Shinobi Clan Wars
by adrien skywalker
Summary: REPOSTED! All Naruto did was to try and use a forbidden technique to beat Madara, but now, he is stuck in the time of the Clan wars, and also, he has somehow managed to become the center piece of a power struggle between the Uchiha and the Senju Clans.
1. Prologue

**_The wind blows hot across the broken land._**

_

* * *

_

**_The soft sigh of its passage is the only sound in a landscape that but a heartbeat past rang loud with the terrible music of war._**

_

* * *

_

**_However, the war is over now. The battle is ended._**

_

* * *

_

**_And the erstwhile Hokage of this shattered land looks down upon the corpse of his domain…_**

_

* * *

_

**… _And wonders why he has no tears to shed. Wonders why the center of his being feels so empty…_**

_

* * *

_

**… _As though the very essence of his soul has been sucked, dry, to leave him nothing but a fragile, hollow shell. _**

_

* * *

_

**_A shell such as a breeze might easily shrivel and destroy._**

_

* * *

_

**_Little remains, it seems, of the legendary ninja, an awed and sometimes-disbelieving world has come to know as…_**

_

* * *

_

**_Uzumaki Naruto. _**

_

* * *

_

_The Hokage looks with vacant and sorrow filled eyes at the hundreds of corpses piled upon the battlefield._

_These were his friends, his brothers, his sisters, the ones who had embraced him as their own, and had laid their trust in him, and he… he had let them down. _

_

* * *

_

"Well done, Naruto. Your warriors fought well. I am sufficiently impressed to say that the day is yours," Uchiha Madara spoke with a thin smile adorning his face as he stood in front of the young man, looking at him with a calculating look on his face.

"Spare me of your sarcasm, Madara. There is no victory to be claimed from so much bloodshed. Not even for the winner," Naruto growled, at which the ancient Uchiha casually shrugged his shoulders away.

"And such a senseless battle in the end…," the enigmatic Uchiha replied after a moment as he surveyed the battleground again, "Since that which I sought continues to elude me. And since your warriors perished…while mine did not…," he paused for a moment as he waved his hands, at which the seven bijuu under his command, which had been lying on the ground, broken, and defeated at the hands of the shinobi alliance stood up again and vanished in swirling vortex of chakra.

"Farewell then, Uzumaki Naruto. It would seem that what I crave is not here for me to take," the man spoke softly as he activated his space/time teleportation technique, and paused for a second, "I have no doubt that our paths will cross again. I remain convinced that you are the doorway to what I seek. It remains only to find the proper key. It is a pity that we are forced to be enemies. You and I are so alike, together we could have done wonders," the man added wistfully as he shook his head.

"I am nothing like you!" Naruto roared as he glared at the man with all the hate he could muster.

"You are still blinded by your naiveté. Think about it in leisure, and you will see what I mean. I have no doubt that our paths will cross again. As I said earlier, I remain convinced that you are the doorway to what I seek. It remains to find only the proper key. We shall meet again, but for now, I leave you to bury your dead in peace," and with that, Madara Uchiha vanished.

* * *

**_Two days later,_**

* * *

_The last of the fallen have been gathered from the battlefield. The breezes now are still. The silence of the aftermath has been replaced with the slow, rhythmic beating of a funeral drum, and the unearthly trilling of numerous people, giving voice to their grief._

_

* * *

_

"We have the tally, Hokage-sama. One thousand, seven hundred and sixteen fell in battle. Of them, only five hundred and eight survived," Mifune, the leader of the land of Iron spoke out as he approached the Hokage.

"Twelve hundred! Twelve hundred dead! Nearly a quarter of our number!" the Hokage spoke out with a deep tone of sorrow underlining his voice, while Mifune lowered his head as the people near the Hokage moved back, to grant him the privacy needed to grieve properly.

* * *

**_A day later,_**

* * *

"Naruto-chan, do not lose hope, we can still prevail," Fukasaku, the ancient toad sage and his mentor, spoke out while Naruto slowly looked at the old toad in despair as he paced around in his makeshift office.

"Fukasaku-sensei, please, tell me the truth, about what you think will happen, and not what you hope will happen," Naruto spoke out at which the old toad bowed his head.

After a moment's silence, the old toad spoke out with a heavy tone, "I fear Madara is too powerful for us to beat, Naruto-chan, he has been preparing for this for more than half a century. As we speak, you are the only one standing against him and total victory. But even a lone rock cannot hold out against the grinding waves of the ocean forever, and sooner or later, it will be ground to dust," the old toad spoke with a small sigh.

"Then I have no choice…," Naruto spoke out as he spread out the scroll of sealing on his desk, and pulled out a scroll sealed within the large scroll.

"That's the key of the seal, left by Minato-chan," Fukasaku spoke out in a startled tone as he eyed it.

"Yes, and I have finally completed the technique, that father wanted me to complete," Naruto spoke out at which Fukasaku looked at the young Hokage in shock.

"Let's go to Myobokuzan, I will explain everything there," Naruto continued, at which Fukasaku nodded and began to weave the seals for the reverse summoning, and soon, the two of them were back in Myobokuzan.

* * *

**_In Myobokuzan,_**

* * *

"Now, Naruto-chan, what is it? What are you going to do?" Fukasaku asked quietly.

"This…is the only thing that Madara lacks. If he had this in his possession…then we would have lost already; as he said, he needs a proper key to gain what he seeks, but even he could never have guessed that I held it in my possession all along," Naruto replied as he held up the scroll.

"What is it?"

"This is the original sealing technique devised by the Rikudo Sennin to seal the Juubi within himself; the seal used to create the first Jinchuuriki; the technique that allowed him to split the Juubi into the nine bijuu; and it is transcribed in this scroll. How it came into father's possession I do not know, but it was incomplete, since part of the scroll was damaged by the ravages of time; and he spent his entire life trying to complete it unsuccessfully, but I managed to complete it finally, making use of Jiraiya - sensei's notes, as well as the notes left behind by father. This is quite possibly the most powerful sealing technique ever devised, I can safely say that it is far more powerful than even the Shiki Fuujin," Naruto explained, while Fukasaku's eyes widened.

"So, are you going to use this…," Fukasaku began when Naruto raised his hand.

"No, you see, whatever happens, I cannot allow the Juubi to be formed. That is too great a risk. I will use this to seal a power greater than the Juubi within me, and use it to defeat Madara," Naruto concluded while Fukasaku's eyes went wide.

"A power greater than the Juubi? But what could…," Fukasaku began when Naruto spoke out again.

"This seal, can seal not only bijuu, but also souls. In essence, using this technique, the soul of a deceased warrior can be sealed within another living person, and then, that person will be able to make use of the abilities of the soul that is sealed within him. You could say, it is like an advanced version of the Shiki Fuujin," Naruto finished explaining quietly, at which Fukasaku took a deep breath.

"Are you out of your mind, boy? Did the blows Madara inflict upon you knock your brain loose? Do you even know what you are saying?" Fukasaku bellowed as he whacked Naruto on the head with his walking stick.

"You have a better solution for beating Madara, then? Because I cannot think of anything else. If we stay like this, then eventually, I will fall, and the Juubi will come back, do you want that? Do you have a better alternative?" Naruto asked testily as the old frog fell silent.

"Fine," the old frog spoke in a huff, "But, you said a power greater than that of the Juubi? Care to explain that Naruto-chan?" the old frog asked in an annoyed tone, at which Naruto smirked.

"Power can be defeated by an even greater power, to beat the Juubi's abilities; I need to seal within me the soul of the person who had the ability to defeat even the Juubi," Naruto ended with a smirk.

"You can't possibly mean…," Fukasaku began in shock when Naruto nodded.

"_Yes… I intend to seal within myself, the soul of the one person who defeated even the Juubi… I intend to seal within myself, the soul of the Rikudo Sennin himself_," Naruto spoke in a quiet tone.

"And how will you do that? He died more than two thousand years ago. His soul would have departed this plane long ago," Fukasaku pointed out in consternation at which Naruto smiled.

"I will use Orochimaru's technique," Naruto pointed out at which even Fukasaku jumped up in alarm.

"Naruto, are you even realizing what you are talking about?" the old toad asked as he eyed the young boy with pity in his eyes.

"No price is too great to pay, to save the world, sensei," Naruto pointed out and the old toad bowed his head.

* * *

**_A day later, in Myobokuzan,_**

* * *

"_Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei_," Naruto muttered as he made the hand seals and plunged his palms into the ground, while Fukasaku stood in the background and watched the proceedings with a gimlet eye.

Naruto had used Zetsu, who had been captured during the battle, as the sacrifice for the technique, and now, as he watched, in front of him, a coffin rose from the ground, without any markings and stood up.

Then, with a groaning creak, it opened and a foot came into view, as the revived soul inside stepped out.

_After two thousand years, the Rikudo Sennin stepped out and walked on the face of the earth again_.

* * *

He had long, spiky hair flowing backwards, in a style similar to Madara Uchiha's. He wore what appeared to be a cloak with a high open collar and armor similar to that once worn by Hashirama Senju, showing his necklace with six red magatama. And in his hand was a Shakujo staff, while a sword was strapped to his back. For a second, Naruto was mesmerized as he watched the enigmatic and mesmerizing spectacle, of seeing the founder of the ninja world stand in front of him, proud and unflinching, but he collected himself quickly.

* * *

"Now, Fukasaku-sensei," Naruto spoke out and the old toad rapidly made some seals as soon as the Sage stepped out of the coffin.

"_Fuinjutsu: Konpaku Ijou Ken Tomurai no Jutsu_," Naruto rapidly made the seals, and placed his palm on the chest of the Rikudo Sennin. As soon as he did that, a blinding and glowing light engulfed them both, and covered them completely, placing them within a bubble of chakra. Fukasaku began screaming and shouting at that point, but Naruto could not hear him anymore.

And then, just as the pressure of the chakra began to become unbearable within the bubble, he looked up at the Rikudo Sennin, whose faux body began to crumble, while his spirit began to seep into his body. The last thing he remembered seeing was a small smile on the Rikudo Sennin's face, and then everything went black as he lost consciousness.

* * *

**_Unknown Location (for the present), Time: Unknown,_**

* * *

Drip…drip…drip…the sound woke Naruto up and he sat up, with every joint in his body aching and groaning at the movement.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position. The pain in his head was starting to feel better. His train of thoughts vanished as and brought to light his current predicament. He was awake. _What the fuck was happening_? Dozens of scenarios and ideas recycled through his mind, every one of them just as unlikely as the next. He was supposed to be in Myobokuzan, but somehow he had managed to appear at Konoha. Only there was no sign of the village, nothing to indicate that humans even lived here. He recognized the place, but the current predicament was beyond his understanding and it was really starting to piss him off.

He looked around, saw a small pond nearby, and ambled over to wash his face, and to quench his thirst. He greedily gulped down the water, and as the liquid went down his parched throat, he heaved a sigh of relief, and began to wipe his face clean. And then, he stopped as he saw his reflection.

* * *

_He stopped as soon as he saw the reflection of his eyes in the water._

_That was because his eyes now bore a very familiar pattern._

_A pattern of a dojutsu._

_A dojutsu used by the other student of his sensei, who had once led the Akatsuki._

_The Rinnegan._

_

* * *

_

Somehow, Naruto Uzumaki had unbelievably manifested the Rinnegan within his eyes.

* * *

At that moment, his surroundings vanished, and he found himself in front of the place where the Kyuubi's sewer used to be, but only thing was, in place of the Kyuubi, there was someone else.

"_Well now, boy, shall we have a chat?" the Rikudo Sennin asked with a cheerful smile as he put his arm around Naruto's shoulders like an old friend and guided him in, leaving Naruto to splutter around like a fish out of water as he gazed at the man_.

* * *

**P.S. 1.** And it is back, and as I said, major rewrite in effect. This I will tell, because I don't want to be hounded by questions. Yes, I gave him the Rinnegan, instead of the perfect Sharingan as compared to the old version. And yes, he now holds the soul of the Rikudo Sennin within himself gaining access to all his abilities and powers, but that will be explained in detail in the next chapter. **This is still the prologue**, so please pardon me if I give less information as of now. Ditto about the presence of Kyuubi as well.

**P.S. 2.** Secondly, yes, he is back in the past, in the time of the clan wars, and yes, he will still become Madara's nephew just like in the old version, but there will be a major added complication, and that will be revealed in the next few chapters.

**P.S. 3.** However, here he will play a much more complex role than compared to the original, and his relationship with Madara will be rather complicated. Not antagonistic, but not too friendly either. Uncle and nephew, but at the same time, there will be a clash of egos as well.

**P.S. 4.** The Senju clan is going to play a very crucial role here, and no, you will have to wait to see. I ain't giving too much information right off the bat.

**P.S. 5.** And yes, it is too early for you to think about pairings.

**P.S. 6.** And yes, the Rikudo Sennin is going to play possibly the most crucial part in this story. Again, you will have to wait and see the next chapters.

**P.S. 7.** And yes, now that I have posted the prologue, it will take some time for me to post the next update, since I have some urgent work coming up, so you will have to excuse me, if I delay the next update by a week or so, with regards to this story.


	2. Sages & the complications they create!

**_Chapter 2: Old sages and the complications that they create!_**

* * *

"What is going on here?" Naruto's question was a whisper, but the surprise in his voice was clear.

"I don't know what's happening," Naruto whispered frantically, "one minute I'm with Fukasaku-sensei and the next thing I find is that nothing is as it was anymore. Konoha is no longer at the place where it should be, the forest itself is gone. What happened here? And how did I come to be here instead of Myobokuzan?"

The Rikudo Sennin waved a hand at Naruto indicating him to calm down. "_Easy there, boy, don't freak out. Just sit down and listen, and everything will be explained_," he spoke out cheerfully, but Naruto did not share his enthusiasm.

"So…is everything okay? Are my friends here? Are they safe?"

The Rikudo Sennin tilted his head to the side and gave Naruto a level look. "_That depends on how you define safe. Did they escape harm? Sort of. However, did something happen to them? Yes_."

"Are they dead?" Naruto snapped in anger. The very thought of a 'yes' answer was making it difficult to breath.

"_They're not so much dead because they aren't alive yet_," the sage said cryptically.

Naruto looked at the man with a lost expression on his face.

"_I have brought you into the past, boy_," the sage finally spoke, as he glared at the boy.

"**WHAT?**" Naruto roared in anger as he glared at the sage.

"_Yep, if I had to say, we are back to the time of the '**Shinobi Clan Wars'**, before the system of hidden villages came into existence. By my exact calculations, we are exactly back by ninety years, yep_," the sage nodded his head sagely, as if that explained everything.

Naruto started to shake his head refusing to believe the explanation. "_You need to pull yourself together_;" the sage hissed, "_the sooner you accept what has happened the likelier you will get out of here alive._"

"So, what happens now? If you are here, then that means the sealing was successful, right? And what about the Kyuubi, I don't see him here, where the hell is he?"

"_Ah, well, let us just start from the beginning, eh? As you heard from that girl, Konan, I believe her name was, he who wields the Rinnegan is the master of life and death, and is able to control even those aspects of life. But there is more to it, even more than that, its wielder is granted mastery over even time, and unlike Nagato, I am a true master, simply put, when a true wielder of the Rinnegan masters that aspect, he is granted access to all streams of time. He gains the ability of omniscience, namely, he is able to traverse all streams of time to witness what will happen; in the past; in the present; and in the future; but that is it, he is just allowed to see what happens, but he cannot move through time, for that is forbidden_."

"So…what you are telling me is…," Naruto began in an uncertain tone when the sage shook his head.

"_Let me put it this way, time is like a path, we may travel back to the beginning of the path or to its end, whether it is forwards or backwards, and like that, even though I have seen all possible outcomes that can and will happen, I was forbidden to intervene directly_," the sage concluded as he looked at the young Hokage.

"_And that, was the reason why I devised this seal, so that even if I cannot intervene directly, I can at least lend my aid to a worthy soul to whom all my knowledge, experience and powers are granted, so that he could do what I could not,_" here, the sage paused as he gazed at the boy, "_I always knew that this day would come. And I had prepared myself for that eventuality_," he explained softly as he gazed at the boy.

"You knew that I was going to use that technique to seal you within myself?" Naruto asked in an incredulous tone as he gazed at the man.

"_You were…the most probable candidate that I could see,"_ the sage spoke after a while as he looked at the boy_, "Remember, I have seen all the streams of time, some in which you were captured and Madara was able to revive the Juubi, and become its second jinchuuriki. Some in which he managed to revive the Juubi, but fell to its power, and doomed the world to destruction. Some where the nine bijuu themselves broke free of his control and so forth…there were many such different probabilities. But this, was the one which had the highest possible chance to save the world, and therefore, I devised this seal, so that you could succeed in managing to seal my spirit within you, and so that we could combine our efforts and save this world from my warring descendants_," the sage finished in a somber tone.

Naruto did not answer. He was too busy staring at the man with an inscrutable look on his face.

"_Answer me, if I say that we can live our lives again, would you stand by me, so that we may rectify our mistakes? Weren't you willing to sacrifice everything so that those whom you knew could live a better life? I have given you that chance, boy; you never stood a chance of defeating Madara in the future. The only chance you have, of beating him, is here, in the past, before he gains the strength that he had in the future_," the Sage asked in a whisper as he gazed at the boy with a soft look in his eyes.

"Why?" that was the only question, Naruto asked.

"_It all starts the day I chose my successor,"_ the sage began_, "I was on my deathbed you know, and time was running short. I knew that the Juubi would soon free itself if I did not deal with it, and then, there was the fact that I would have to choose my successor between my sons_," the sage explained quietly.

"_Madara managed to unearth quite a bit of what had happened, but he did not manage to unearth all of it,_" he continued, "_I had two sons, and both were special. I granted my eldest son the abilities of my dojutsu, but it was not the same as the Rinnegan, it was different, and over the course of time, it mutated into the Sharingan. My youngest, to him, I gave the gift of exceptional spiritual energy control, to use and harness all forms of chakra. I had hoped that both of them would continue my work, together, but that was not to be, and perhaps, I am to blame for it, in a way as well_," the sage sighed softly.

"_My eldest son_," the sage began again, "_He had witnessed the true horror of the Juubi, before I managed to seal it within me, and it scarred him for life. My youngest son however, was shielded, from witnessing that horror, as he had not yet been born then. My eldest, on the other hand, was not. Besides, even though the Juubi was gone, there was still much evil left in the world. The hatred and the malice of its power had corrupted many people and they were under its thrall. I was too busy in my efforts of subduing the Juubi personally, and it was left to my eldest son, to deal with them. And he did it, but in those wars, he was forced to use many brutal measures to quell the disorders that he came across, and it changed him. He became as brutal as those he was facing, in his methods of dealing with them. His good nature and his very soul became tainted. He began to fall into despair, believing that no matter what, people would always turn evil, if given the slightest chance, as it was in their nature, and therefore, he concluded that force and authority alone would quell such disorder. While it may not bring about true prosperity, it would bring order and obedience, even if it was to be enforced by fear, and that according to him, was enough_."

"_My youngest, however_," the Sage continued again, while Naruto listened with riveted attention, "_had not experienced any of this, and had a sort of a naïve outlook towards life, but that did not mean he was ignorant of the affairs of the world. However, unlike his brother, he believed that no one was beyond salvaging, and that if given the chance, a person would find it within himself the spirit to turn himself away from darkness. He believed in the innate goodness of the human spirit, and thus the seeds of conflict emerged within my sons. My eldest son accused of him being an altruistic fool, whose ideals would only bring nothing but more misery on the world, while, he in return accused his elder brother as a person who had become addicted to violence, and was afraid of peace, because, then the need for him would disappear. And at that moment, I made the greatest mistake in my life._"

"Mistake?" Naruto asked in a curious tone as he gazed at the sage.

"_Blessed with the powers equal to a God I was, but still, I was only but a mortal, yes Naruto, even I was capable of making a mistake. Does that surprise you, to know that even someone like me could fall victim to sentiments that plague other humans as well_?"

"No…I guess not," Naruto replied softly.

"_I was on my deathbed at the time_," the sage continued, "_and I was busy in making preparations for devising safeguards so that the Juubi may not arise again, and I needed to designate my successor, and that was where I made my greatest mistake. By that time, the effort of suppressing the Juubi within me had taken a heavy toll on my mind, and I was weary, and tired, and my senses were impaired. I knew that my death was imminent, **and the Juubi seized that moment**_," the sage spoke in a guttural tone, while his eyes flashed with rage.

"_Apart from being a creature of unmatched power, its evil nature and malice always lurked, even in its prison within my body. I had to fight every moment of my existence to ensure that its sentience stayed sealed, and to make sure that it could not influence my thoughts and my behavior. And I did, successfully, but on my deathbed, my strength waned and it used it to its advantage_," the sage sighed as despair etched on his face.

"_It knew_," the Sage spoke in a very quiet tone, as if trying to drown his shame, "_that if my descendents were to stay united, then its chances of arising again were very slim. Moreover, it feared my eldest son, at least somewhat. Both my sons, just like me, had the ability to suppress its power, but my eldest son was far more proficient in it, than my younger son was. Maybe, his harsh upbringing was the cause for it, I suppose. I had divided my strength equally between them both, but my eldest son always strived to be stronger, and his drive to become stronger was unmatched by anybody that I have ever seen, except perhaps you. It realized that if my eldest son was to become my successor, things would go very badly for it, and at that moment, it exerted almost all its strength to influence my mind, and I, who had suppressed it all my entire life, finally succumbed to its influence, but for a scant few seconds, but that was enough to cause the damage. Under its influence, I chose my youngest son as my successor, when in fact, I intended to divide my responsibilities equally to both of them, however, under its influence, I solely designated my youngest son as my successor. I recovered in seconds, but by then, the damage was done_."

"And that was the cause of all our misfortunes," Naruto spoke out as he realized what had happened.

"_Yes_," the sage admitted, "_I tried to reverse the damage, but by then, my time was over, and I perished, and because of the safeguards I had devised, the Juubi's body was sealed away, and its essence was split into nine different parts and was flung away into all corners of the world. But, my eldest son, who was unaware of what had happened, perceived it as a great betrayal on my part. All his life, he was the one who had toiled with me on every step, and he expected to be my successor, and I admit, I too had intended to make him my successor, but after seeing him fall to his despair, I had begun to have second doubts. That was the reason why I instead decided to split my responsibilities between both of them, instead of making him my direct successor, but everything went haywire_," the sage spoke softly while Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"_What happened afterwards, you know_," the sage concluded as he gazed at the boy.

"So…he thought he had been betrayed and challenged his brother for supremacy, and to this day…their descendants continue that fight," Naruto concluded as everything became clear to him.

"So…where do we go from here?" Naruto quietly asked as the Sage became silent.

"_In the few seconds before I perished, I knew that irreparable damage had been caused, and I did not have enough time to explain everything to my eldest son. Therefore, I devised a last-minute safeguard. My power, my own dojutsu, the reason why I gained my strength, would be denied to the descendants of both my sons. Neither my eldest's nor my youngest. Only a child descended from both their descendants would be able to harness that ability. And for that to happen, both families would have to unite once again. I knew it was a very long shot, and that the chances of that occurring were very slim, but it was the only thing I could think of at the spur-of-the-moment, and by then, my time was up_," the sage concluded softly.

"So…then Nagato…," Naruto began softly as he gazed at the sage.

"_Yes, he was the descendant of a union between a Senju and an Uchiha, in fact through his grandfather, actually_," the Sage replied while Naruto's eyes widened. "_While his grandfather and father could not harness the Rinnegan, he did_," the sage continued as he looked at Naruto.

"So…why was his family abandoned? If he was, as you say, born of a union between an Uchiha and a Senju, shouldn't either clan have harbored his family?"

"_It is not as easy as you think_," the sage retorted, "_In the time of the clan wars, clan members were strictly forbidden to liaise with members of enemy clans. If such an act were to happen, then the ones guilty would be executed by their clans. So, fearing for their own safety, both of his great-grandparents, abandoned his grandfather and entrusted him to the care of a farmer, within the Land of Rain, which would later become the home of Amegakure in your time_," the sage concluded.

"So, what now?" Naruto asked with consternation as he gazed at the sage.

"**_Nagato's grandfather was born as the result of an illicit union between two very prominent members of the Uchiha and the Senju clan, namely, Uchiha Izuna, the brother of Uchiha Madara; and Senju Toka, the cousin of Senju Hashirama and Tobirama. Which would make him the direct nephew of Uchiha Madara, and a second nephew of Hashirama and Tobirama Senju_**," the sage finished softly.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Naruto roared as he gazed at the sage who had a wan grin on his face.

"Shit! You are serious, aren't you?" Naruto whispered as he gazed at the sage.

"How the hell do you know all this?" he asked in a whisper as he gazed at the sage with a gimlet eye, "Oh yeah, right, right, omniscient, being able to see through the past, the present, and the future, and all that shit; geez, what a cluster-fuck! What the hell do you want me to do about it?" Naruto swore as he gazed at the sage.

"_Well, you are back here, in this time, and now, we try to get those two clans together again, and in doing so, we cut off Madara's legs, by having you replace him, as the new leader of the Uchiha clan, because, as his nephew you will be his heir since he cannot have any children, due to the side effects of attaining the perfect Sharingan_," the sage finished as he gazed at Naruto.

"Are you kidding me? Me, as his nephew, I would rather slit my own throat!" Naruto roared as he gazed at the man, "Well, maybe his, not mine," he amended slowly as the sage stared at him.

"All right, all right, have it your way, Oh Almighty God of the Ninja World! Just for the record, how will you bring this miracle about anyway?" Naruto sneered as he gazed at the Sage.

"_Well……you……will replace the grandfather of Nagato and pass yourself off as the son of Uchiha Izuna and Senju Toka, and that way get close to the clans, and unite them! How is that_?" the sage asked as a grin came upon his face.

"You are off your rocker!" Naruto whispered as he gazed at the man.

"_And how…pray tell…did you come to that conclusion_?" the sage asked quietly.

"Well…first of all, by that calculation, Uchiha Izuna is dead, so we have no way to prove that he had a son, and secondly, from what I remember reading in the records of Konoha, Senju Toka died single, and nowhere is it mentioned, that she had a son," he spat out, while a very curious grin adorned the sage's face, "And most important of all, again, if we take the time into consideration, their romp happened ten years ago, and then, they threw that kid away, and never even thought of him, if the evidence we have is true. And now, may I remind you, that Senju Toka is still alive! And for the love of God, how do you intend for me, a seventeen year old, to pass off as a ten-year-old boy? Huh?"

"And…more…importantly…how…are…we…going…to…convince…her…to…accept…me…as…her…son? When…I…clearly…am…not? Huh?" Naruto snarled as he gazed at the man, while clearly emphasizing each and every word .

"_Uh…Naruto_," the sage spoke out softly with a smile on his face, "_Forgive me for asking this, but am I correct in thinking that you did not look at your reflection when you ran to the pond to drink water? Or for that matter, did you not even notice that your body feels, dare I say it, different?_" the sage asked in a very quiet tone as he looked at the boy.

"What…what are you saying?" Naruto asked in a whisper, as a hint of fear entered into his tone.

Wordlessly, the sage waved his hand, and at that moment, for a second, Naruto could see the outside world through his eyes, and then…he clearly gazed into the pond and looked at reflection.

The Rikudo Sennin calmly began to count for the explosion…3………2………1………

"**WHAT THE HELL? I AM A FREAKING TEN-YEAR-OLD KID! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?**" Naruto roared as he lunged at the sage, nearly frothing at the mouth. Indeed, in the reflection, a visage of a brunette haired child could be seen, and it was…of a young boy…who was clearly ten years old. Naruto was Naruto still, but his body was not what it had been. It was somebody else's.

"What did you do to me?" Naruto roared as he gazed at the sage of the six paths.

"_Simple, boy, let me tell you this. There are some guidelines that the Gods have placed on mortals, and amongst them is a tenet, which states that no mortal may physically traverse from one timeline to another, and the penalty for that crime…is death. Therefore, the only way it can be done is if you are a spirit, and that is no good to us. Therefore, when I created that seal, I knew this would happen, that is why, I interfered. I had disguised the true nature of this technique, because I knew that you would waver in using that technique if you knew the truth, out of attachment to your friends, and that was something that I couldn't risk_," the sage concluded quietly.

"**You tricked me!**" Naruto roared in anger as he gazed at the sage, while the implications of the sage's words sunk into his mind.

"_Sometimes, a little bit of evil is necessary to perpetuate goodness; you, are the only one capable of doing this, and I, had to make sure that you would use that technique. So forgive me, if you feel deceived, but I had no choice. The safety of the world was at stake. And I knew that you are not the kind of person, who would put your personal priority over the safety of the world, or, are you telling me that I am mistaken?_" the sage asked with a steely tone, while Naruto just glared at the man.

"I understand. I don't like it, but I understand," Naruto gritted out as he clenched his fists and stared at the sage, who bowed in gratitude.

"_Now, I knew that the moment you used that technique, your body would perish, and that your spirit would traverse back to this time period, and therefore, I ensured that your spirit would possess a suitable body, which conveniently for us happens to be that of Nagato's grandfather's, who, may I very conveniently point out, is just ten years old, and is, the son of Uchiha Izuna and Senju Toka, and nobody in this world can disprove it. I believe that answers all your questions, no?_"

"But what happened to his spirit, I mean, I couldn't just use his body, right?" Naruto asked again as he gazed at the sage.

"_Well_," the sage looked awkward as he faced the boy, "_for your soul to be tethered into this world, another soul had to be offered as a sacrifice. It is the law of equivalent exchange, and that is another law of the Gods. For something to be gained, something has to be given. If your soul was to enter this world, then balance had to be maintained, and a soul would have to depart from this world. I made it so, that the soul that would depart would be the soul of the person, whose body you would inhabit. That soul, in return would ascend to heaven, so yes, that is it_," the sage explained softly, while Naruto lowered his eyes in reverence for a moment.

"Shit," Naruto muttered softly as he sank down, as the full weight of what had occurred sunk into him.

"_Oh yeah_," the sage laughed as he looked at the boy, "_Congratulations, kid, it seems that you finally have a family, and not just one, but two_," the sage smirked as Naruto looked at him crossly.

That was what he was afraid of. Not one, but two families, and what families they were!

And shit! Senju Toka was alive, which meant, he had a mother (technically, she was the mother who gave birth to the body he was in, he supposed), but she was Senju! And Madara was his uncle, and according to custom, a son belonged to his father's clan, and his father, well, supposed father, was an Uchiha! His supposed father was dead, but his supposed mother was still alive. Boy, was that a major shitstorm in the brewing!

**He idly wondered what Hashirama Senju & Uchiha Madara would do, when they would receive the news that they both had a ten-year-old nephew, who had their ancestor's bloodline? One thing was for certain, he did not want to be there when they found out.**

**

* * *

**

**Authors Note:**

**P.S. 1.** Some major changes, as you can see. And yes, Naruto's new abilities, and the Kyuubi's fate will be explained in the next chapter. This chapter and the next chapter will lay out the groundwork for how this story will proceed.

**P.S. 2.** Like Uchiha Izuna, Senju Toka was a major character during the clan war period. Apparently, according to the Naruto Data book, she was supposed to be like, the right-hand person of Hashirama or something. So, I decided to use her character as a major part of this story, and to fit this plot, I made her as a cousin of the Senju brothers, if you must know, as the daughter of their uncle, like that.

**P.S. 3.** And in the next chapter, he makes his first contact with one of the two clans. Try and guess who it is, if you can.

**P.S. 4.** As I said, the Rikudo Sennin is the second-most major character in the series, and his abilities will be explained in the coming chapters as the story progresses. And before some of you take offence at his comment that unlike Nagato, he was a true master of the Rinnegan, let me remind you that Nagato had no knowledge of how to make use of his bloodline, and everything he learnt about his bloodline was on his own, and some of it, probably through Madara, when he joined Akatsuki. And moreover, he was a handicapped cripple, now compared to him, nobody can deny the fact that Rikudo was a far greater master of the Rinnegan. I mean, let's face it, if he can't master it, then who can?


	3. Enter the Prodigal Son!

_**Eighteen months after arriving in the past,**_

* * *

The last eighteen months of training had worked wonders for Naruto's physique. Instead of the scrawny, underfed, and totally weakened 10 year – old child (A boy who was 10 – years old physically with a 27 – year old mind inside him, that is), he was now a boy, who had what could be termed as a near perfect physique for his current physical age.

Gone were the blemishes, the pasty skin, and the weakened muscles. He now had a very lithe build, and his training had granted him what could be termed as a fluid posture.

Above all else, his training with the Rinnegan had progressed splendidly. Following Rikudo's advice, Naruto too had opted to follow the method that Nagato had used, instead of trying to incorporate the power of all the spirit realms of the Rinnegan within his primary body.

In a lengthy discussion, the sage of the six paths had explained to Naruto that the cause of his early demise was the fact that his mortal body had not been able to contain all the power granted to him, by his bloodline, and that was without taking the boost in power that the Juubi had granted.

He had further elaborated that had Nagato been smart enough to not bond with the _Gedo Mazo_, he would have had a healthy disposition, and would have lived longer, and would not have been so weak when he had come to face Naruto. Naruto had raised his eyebrows at that point, he had to. A weakened Nagato, he could scarcely visualize that concept.

After all, the man had single handedly destroyed Konoha, killed like around eight hundred people, and were it not for the safeguards that his parents had built into his seal; he would never have gotten around to beating that man, and even then, with his legs literally in the grave, Nagato had brought everyone he had killed back to life, before succumbing to his illness. If this is what he was capable of as a paraplegic, then Naruto considered himself damn lucky that the man was not in his best health when he had attacked.

Moving on, Rikudo had then carefully instructed Naruto in the usage of the Rinnegan. He too was intrigued at the clever manner in which Nagato had bypassed his handicap. _The six paths of Pain _technique was literally ground breaking, and even the founder of the ninja world had been impressed by it.

Nagato had reanimated six corpses, and controlled them as marionettes, by transplanting his chakra and bloodline into them. He had also ensured that they would not be burdened by chakra overloading, and had kept them isolated to just one primary ability each, which had served him well. It was an unbeatable combination, well almost unbeatable, unless anybody managed to find out firsthand about all of their abilities.

Therefore, after many discussions, Naruto and Rikudo had found out a way to incorporate that method themselves. Since, Naruto vehemently denied to use random corpses, as part of himself, it was Rikudo who came up with the solution.

_Modified Shadow Clones._

Naruto's signature technique in the future.

Using his knowledge, Rikudo had designed an intricate Fuinjutsu array, through which he and Naruto had converted five of the Boy's shadow clones into partial summons. Furthermore, using a spatial distortion technique, they had created a pocket dimension, where the clones could safely reside in limbo, without causing any drain on Naruto's Chakra while he resided in the mortal realm.

Nevertheless, the pinnacle of their achievement had been the absorption seals grafted by the both of them on all the clones. Basically, on the left shoulder of each clone, they carved the symbol of the Senju clan, and on the right shoulder, they carved the symbol of the Uchiha clan, which were then connected to the modified Reverse Four Symbols Seal grafted around the stomach of each of the clones. These symbols had been grafted on Naruto's main body, and according to Rikudo, it had been grafted by his supposed birth parents, Toka Senju and Izuna Uchiha, on the day he had been born.

Now, Naruto had turned those tattoos into seals, which would actually transmit his chakra to the clones, and therefore, he had grafted the same tattoos on all the clones as well, to act as chakra receiver seals. Their sole purpose, apart from transmitting Naruto's chakra to all of them, also allowed them to siphon off ambient nature energy directly from the atmosphere, thereby reducing the strain it put on Naruto.

Overall, they were partial summons, and were also partially self – sustaining, and were extremely hard to destroy. It had taken both of them around seven months to accomplish all this.

* * *

Then came the task of selecting which realms Naruto would use initially. Rikudo had firmly told Naruto that his physical body was still too immature to maintain the burden of animating six other bodies, even with all the modifications they had done.

After a lot of deliberation, Naruto had opted to assimilate the abilities of the Deva Path (_Tendo) _within himself, and for his three initial companions, he chose the Preta Path (_Gakido), _the Animal Path (_Chikushodo),_ & the Naraka Path (_Jigokudo). _

This gave him the ability of gravity manipulation via the Deva path, the ability of summoning various creatures to aid him via the Animal Path, the ability of chakra absorption via the Preta Path, allowing him to absorb all sorts of Ninjutsu attacks, and finally the ability to restore his paths via the Naraka Path.

In short, even though he was the main conduit, he would leave it to his realms to do the fighting, and as such, in these three, he had the abilities of summoning giant summons to aid him, the ability to absorb large scale Ninjutsu attacks, along with the ability to repel any attacks, and finally the ability to revive any of his paths if they fell; which was actually more important to him, because even though his realms may very well turn out to be invincible in battle, they were not immortal after all, and the ability to revive them at a moment's notice was critical for him.

He still had two more paths to claim, the Human Path (_Ningendo), _and the Asura Path (_Shurado)_, who possessed quite possibly the most offensive abilities amongst all the realms.

However, learning to command all the six realms within two years would prove to be Impossible, even for him, even with Rikudo's aid. There were still limits to what he could do, yet.

Despite all that, his training had been brutal. Rikudo was unforgiving and relentless in his methods, which Naruto found out very early on, much to his displeasure. Naruto had managed to master the abilities of _Tendo _completely, but that was because it was his primary ability, and it resided within his physical body.

With _Chikushodo,_ he had managed to gain the allegiance of only two summoning clans, as opposed to the nearly dozen clans, that Nagato had managed, and his mastery over the abilities of _Gakido_ was marginal at best.

With _Jigokudo, _he had progressed the farthest after _Tendo,_ because he knew how vital it was for _Jigokudo's _abilities to be at its best. Without his primary healer, all his realms were at risk.

When the paths were active together in battle, just like Nagato, Naruto too was able to see through their eyes, thus registering separate fields of vision at the same time. Essentially working as a shared vision for the paths, this allowed Naruto to coordinate their attacks and to provide defense for them without a blind spot.

All of the paths, just like him, demonstrated incredible speed, strength and the ability to create Chakra Disruption Blades, which could be used to incapacitate opponents. The paths were strongest when together, using combination tactics and the element of surprise to defeat their enemies. Unless anybody had prior knowledge on the workings of each of the individual paths, it would be impossible to take them down. Rikudo had designed a specific and brutal regimen to get Naruto acclimatized to the shared visual routine, as it was vital to his survival in battles.

* * *

All in all, after nearly eighteen months of training, Rikudo had finally proclaimed in a satisfied voice, that the now nearly twelve year old Naruto was finally about as strong as a low _Kage _level shinobi, and that his abilities were now passable enough, to warrant him approaching his parent clans.

Working in tandem, the two of them had come through an audacious plan after conducting surveillance on the current affairs of the shinobi world, using the intelligence they had gathered.

As it stood, currently, the clan war period was in full swing, and nearly every major shinobi clan had allied itself with one of the minor daimyo's who ruled many of the smaller countries present all over the elemental lands.

Recently, after a herculean effort, they had learned that the Senju and the Uchiha clans were involved in secret negotiations, to enter into a truce and form an alliance with each other. The lord of the Land of Fire, had apparently learned of this, and it seemed that he had sent messages to the effect that if this alliance were to ever form, then he would consider hiring them. As one of the most powerful lands present, this was an opportunity, which both the clans could not afford to decline. The patronage of such a powerful royal family, could grant those clans wealth and prosperity on a scale previously unimagined of.

To that effect, Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were now at a secret location, trying to iron out their differences via peaceful negotiations, before entering into an alliance with each other. A place, which ironically turned out to be in Uzu no Kuni, in a place called Uzushiogakure.

Naruto's plan was simple. He would infiltrate Uzushiogakure, and attempt to draw both Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara into battle with himself, and after a prolonged battle, where he could show off his abilities, he would reveal his parentage, and step back to watch the greatest child custody battle of the world begin. Simple, and very effective in his opinion.

After much persuasion, Rikudo had agreed, with some minor stipulations.

All in all, Naruto Uzumaki was now ready to declare war on the Senju and Uchiha clans.

* * *

_**Outside the border walls of Uzushiogakure,**_

* * *

"So, what do you think, Riku – san?" Naruto asked quietly as he surveyed the village from a vantage point. This was rather disconcerting to him, after all, this was in a way his home. His mother had come from this place, part of his family was from this place, and this was the place where his ancestors had hailed from. In the future, this place was nothing but a ruin, by the time he had been born, but now, to watch it bustle around with activity brought a thin smile to his lips.

"_Rather impressive, I must say, this is quite a Fuinjutsu barrier they have created, I am impressed," _the voice of the sage came within his mind as usual. Naruto nodded imperceptibly. The barrier was almost an older version of the barrier that Konoha had used in the future. Given the close relationship between the two villages prior to the destruction of Uzu, it was not entirely improbable to believe that the barrier of Konoha had originated here, or at least had Uzu's hand in its creation.

"_Naru – chan, are you really sure you want to go through this? I mean using the method that Nagato used to invade Konoha, to again invade Uzushio, rather strikes to me as inconvenient, and that is not excluding the blatant plagiarism," _the sage cautioned, with a hint of humor at the end of his tone before becoming serious again, "_There are plenty of other ways to attract their attention to you, you know," _Rikudo cautioned, while Naruto shook his head indicating his disapproval of the thought.

"You should know better than anyone, Riku – san," Naruto continued again, "the concept of this plan is to cause such shock and awe amongst the two clans that they cannot afford to ignore me, which will then be the primary step in initiating our plan. The aim of our plan is to affect the will, perception, and understanding of our adversaries to fit or respond to our actions through imposing a brutal display of our abilities, thereby generating enough Shock and Awe within all who are present, so that they cannot afford to ignore us."

"_True enough, now this barrier, Naru – chan, while similar to Konoha's is not as advanced as the one in the future obviously," _the sage replied after a moment's deliberation, while Naruto's eyes now displayed the focal points of the barrier clearly in a two dimensional view of black and white.

"_But," _the sage continued again, "_Similarly, this barrier includes complete coverage aerially, and even encompasses the underground as well, but there is a blind spot at the following two locations," _the sage continued, at which Naruto nodded, indicating that he had noticed it as well.

"_So, going with your original plan, I suggest we let Chikushodo infiltrate from one of the blind spots, and once he is in, he can summon all of the others, thereby alerting them all, by which time we can already disperse," _the sage concluded, while Naruto nodded to the clone standing behind him, who nodded and moved forward.

* * *

_**The residence of the Uzumaki clan head,**_

* * *

Currently, the mood within the hall was grim. At first appearance, the room appeared nearly Spartan in its appearance, and at the first look all one could see was a desk, beyond which was a cushion, where one could sit, and hanging on the walls were paper lamps, while a mantle near the wall held a _Daisho. _

Nothing much adorned the walls, apart from that.

Currently seated within the halls were three men, two of whom had their backs turned to each other. The third was an extremely old man who was looking at the two men with sorrow filled eyes. The old man was wearing a grey colored set of Samurai armor including a chest plate, forearm guards, and greaves.

He looked at the two young men in front of him, one of whom was his son – in – law, and spoke with sorrow edged in his tones, "I am astonished by the two of you," he began in a wheezing voice, "How long will you turn your backs on each other? _Hashirama? Madara?_"

The two men who were addressed did not even flinch as their names were mentioned by the old man.

Indeed, on the left side, it was none other than Hashirama Senju, the leader of the Senju clan himself. While on the right side was the head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Madara. It had taken nearly three years of negotiations, and many minor skirmishes to get these two within the same hall, without each one attempting to kill the other. The village of Uzushio was by now literally crawling with both Senju and Uchiha ninjas who were just itching to kill each other.

"This is not good, not good," the old leader of the Uzumaki began again, "the Senju and the Uchiha cannot go on like this. If they do, then the dawning of a new era will never occur in the elemental nations …" as the old man was speaking, suddenly a massive spike of chakra went off near the vicinity, forcing the three men to jump up in alarm as they immediately fell into guarding positions, instantly.

Suddenly, the door to the hall was flung open, as a woman raced in, with fear etched on her face, "**FATHER! WE ARE ASSAILED! SOMEONE HAS BROKEN THROUGH THE VILLAGE BARRIER**!" Uzumaki, nay, Senju Mito, the daughter of the Uzumaki clan head, and Hashirama's wife, rushed in, with fear clearly etched on her face.

Mito was wearing an elaborate kimono and a kind of tiara in her hair. Her hair was also arranged in buns and she had a diamond mark on her forehead. She also has what appeared to be seal tags in her hair decals. All in all, while no extraordinary beauty like her future granddaughter, she was pretty in a classical sense. However, currently, her pretty face was marred in anxiety.

"What?" the old man roared, even as his face showed the level of shock he felt. "It is impossible, our barrier cannot be breached so easily," the old man spoke quickly, while both Madara and Hashirama glared at each other.

Meanwhile, the old man rapidly made some hand seals, and afterwards plunged his hands into the ground. After a moment, the old man's face hardened.

"There are four intruders, two are headed towards the Uchiha enclave, while two are headed towards the Senju enclave," he spoke rapidly, and the moment he finished, both Madara and Hashirama vanished instantly.

* * *

_**Near the Uchiha enclave,**_

* * *

Currently, the mood in the building that housed the Uchiha enclave, which had been created temporarily as a residence for the visiting Uchiha ninjas who had arrived as an escort for their leader, was grim. By default, most of them were males, while there were around three females.

The reason why their mood was grim, was because that most of them were at odds with their leader, Uchiha Madara. While most of the ninja of the Uchiha clan desired peace, it was well known to all of them that their leader was fanatically averse to that notion.

But still, despite their personal opinions, these shinobi stood loyally behind their leader, as tradition demanded.

Uchiha Hikaku, the second – in – command of the camp, was visibly flustered. With his tall posture, wavy brown hair tied in a pony tail, and his angular looks, he was quite a good looking man. Apart from that, he was also the second – most powerful member of the Uchiha clan, right after Madara, and as such, his opinion held a lot of weight in the clan. After the death of his brother, Madara had come to rely upon him more and more.

It had not taken long for Hikaku to realize that his brother's death had affected Madara far more than any had realized, and he knew how hard it was for the man. But at the same time, it was getting tough for him to quell the slowly growing dissension within their clan, where the majority wished for peace, and were at odds with their leader.

Suddenly, his cycle of thoughts were interrupted as he noticed a strange phenomenon occurring on the street below. As he watched, a young boy, around eleven years old probably walked in his field of view.

The boy was rather plain looking, with brunette colored hair, and was reasonably tall for his age. He was wearing a long, dark cloak, with a red interior, and a high collar that partially obscured his face, and had red clouds embroidered upon it. But that was not what drew his attention towards the child, it was his gait. The boy walked in measured steps, appearing as if he was gliding, and held himself in a compact manner, one that was visible in many veterans.

As he watched, the boy crossed over the street and gazed at the building in which he was situated, and for some unknown reason, Hikaku felt a ripple of unease flow through him.

Suddenly, he gasped as he saw the boy perform some hand seals in a very rapid pace. He recognized that array instantly and stifled a gasp of shock.

The boy was performing a Kuchiyose, a grand summoning … but before he could digest what he was seeing, Hikaku nearly had a meltdown, when he noticed what the boy had summoned.

Humans. Three of them.

Without wasting a second, he manifested his Sharingan and raced out, intent on finding out what was happening. But before he could reach them, all four performed a one – handed seal, and vanished in an instant, while Hikaku was left standing in the middle of the street, gaping at the empty location like an idiot.

_Calm down Hikaku, what you saw could not be possible, it just cannot be,_ he told himself, even as he tried to analyze what he saw a moment ago. _No, not literally, it is just that your mind is not comprehending what just happened, what you just witnessed in a way you can grasp. But it's real, even so … it is real… you just saw a twelve year old boy perform a Kuchiyose, a human one at that, and that is not ignoring the fact that it was successful in the first place, and that is above the fact that he can use Shunshin, something which many adult ninja can't perform successfully … just what is going on …_

Suddenly, his thought cycle was interrupted, as he witnessed his leader appear in front of him.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, at the Senju enclave,**_

* * *

Tobirama Senju, the brother of Hashirama Senju, and the second – in – command of the Senju clan, was pacing around agitatedly within their enclave, even as his ninja prepared themselves for an attack. Just moments ago, his sister – in – law had literally raced out of the building, supremely agitated, to warn her husband and her father, after exclaiming in a shocked tone that the barrier covering the village had been breached, and that told him volumes about what was happening.

Someone, whoever it was, had dared to attack Uzushio. He idly wondered for a second, whether the attackers even knew who were actually in the village at this moment. To attack a place that had both Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara at one place; either the attackers were supremely confident about their abilities, or they had an extraordinary bout of bad luck. And beyond that, the members of the Senju and Uchiha present, including him, and that jackass Hikaku, not to mention Toka, and all the Uzumaki present… whoever was doing this was in for a very rough time.

Suddenly, he was cut short of his thoughts, as he watched a young boy walk in his field of vision.

The boy was rather plain looking, with brunette colored hair, and was reasonably tall for his age. He was wearing a long, dark cloak, with a red interior, and a high collar that partially obscured his face, and had a design of red clouds embroidered upon it.

The boy looked at him, and spoke in a soft tone, "Is there a Senju Toka present here?"

Tobirama looked at the boy with one of his eyebrows raised, _no greeting, no deference, just a blunt question, just who was this boy?_

"And why do you ask?" he replied with a question of his own.

"That is none of your concern," the boy replied again, "Bring her here, or suffer the consequences," he concluded, while few of the Senju ninja who were watching snorted in disbelief.

Tobirama looked at the boy with a smirk on his face. _Well, somebody is feeling arrogant,_ he smirked as he gazed at the boy.

"And if I refuse," he asked quietly, at which the boy crouched in Iai stance while the ninja on guard tensed.

Suddenly, the boy began to make some hand seals in a dizzying pace, even as the other ninja tensed.

Tobirama, who recognized the technique, paled even as the implications hit him, but before he could even retort, the boy had plunged his right palm into the ground, as the words, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" were carried all over the place.

When the smoke cleared, even Tobirama Senju took a step back in shock. Whatever he had expected, this was not it. The boy, as unbelievable as it was, had summoned humans, not animals. And more importantly, three other humans, who looked exactly like him. Down to the last strand of hair, and all of them were wearing the same apparel as well.

_Are they clones? No, it cannot be… he did not use any bunshinjutsu, yet, he summoned them. It was clearly a Kuchiyose, but, I know of no Kuchiyose that summons clones, just what is going on here?_

"Who are you, boy? What is your intention here? To which clan do you owe allegiance?" he asked calmly, even as he noticed the three summons, or whatever they were, place themselves in various locations, eyeing the group completely.

"Who I am is of no concern to you," the boy replied curtly, even as he gazed at the older man, "Hand over Senju Toka, and I shall spare your lives," the boy replied curtly, while Tobirama finally showed some irritation in his face.

Suddenly, the boy raised his palm, and caught a kunai knife which had been aimed at the base of his skull, from behind him, without even moving a bit, or turning back, while the audience members watched in surprise at that little display of skill.

Tobirama was more analytical in his approach.

_There was no way he could have anticipated that, it was perfectly aimed at his blind spot, yet, he caught it, with the barest efforts, how did he…_

At that moment, Tobirama for the first time noticed his eyes, and was immediately mesmerized. Instantly, he was enraptured by the beauty, the pure elegance those eyes gave off. By comparison, the Sharingan was nothing more than an ugly weed to this beautiful rose. _Was this perhaps a new dojutsu that he had never heard about before?_He was brought out of his thoughts, when he noticed Uchiha Hikaku arriving within the area, along with at least twenty other Uchiha clan members.

* * *

Snorting at the disdainful way in which the Senju had handled the matter, Hikaku gave a barely imperceptible nod to his clansmen, even as they surrounded the boy in the center of the field, completely, and at a nod from Hikaku, they let loose a deadly volley of sharp metal. Kunai & Shuriken whizzed through the air, even as the few multiplied into dozens turning into a deadly hailstorm, intended to shred the boy into nothingness.

As everyone watched with baited breath, just as the hailstorm of metal neared him, the boy raised his right arm up, and pointed his palm outwards. Instantly, every single Kunai and Shuriken in the air, stopped in its path, and just hung in mid – air, and after a simple wave of the boy's hand, they collapsed to the ground.

This time, try as he could, Tobirama could not prevent his jaw from dropping down in awe. Hikaku on the other hand was dumbstruck, with his face showing a myriad of emotions ranging from shock to humiliation.

"I ask you once again, where is Senju Toka? Bring her here, and I will spare your life," the boy replied calmly at which Tobirama's face became grave, while all the Uchiha looked at the boy sharply, while Hikaku had a calculative look on his face.

* * *

"What is going on here, Senju?" Hikaku addressed Tobirama directly with a terse tone.

"I am in the dark as much as you are," Tobirama snapped back, while the boy watched them silently.

"It would seem that you need some more persuasion, very well … _Chikushodo_," the boy called out to one of his summons/clones, which was simply watching the confrontation from a secure vantage point.

At the boy's voice however, his clone or whatever it was, raised both of its arms and pointed it towards both of its sides, and muttered one word, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," and instantly, two huge sealing arrays appeared in mid air, to the apparent shock of everyone present.

When the smoke was cleared, many of the grown ninja nearly present nearly wet their pants.

Out of the smoke, two giant, and multi – headed dogs with wings came out of each directions, and gave a guttural roar.

Instantly, screams erupted from the residents of the village, who could now witness the monstrosities, and instantly began to panic.

Their panic however, was short – lived. Before those dogs could cause any damage, something very unexpected happened.

The dog on the left was suddenly encompassed by what appeared to be tree vines, which shot up from underground, and snaked around the creature's body binding it tightly. Slowly, as the vines completely encompassed the creature, the dog began to rapidly emaciate while the vines began to bulge into tree trunks, as they apparently leeched of the summoned creature's chakra.

The dog in the right suffered more brutally, as what appeared to be black flames completely engulfed it from all sides. The creature began to thrash around in pain, and finally disappeared just around the same time when its companion disappeared as well, while cheers could be heard all around.

From the smoke, two figures slowly walked out together, and all the combined Senju and Uchiha ninjas gave out a huge roar of approval, as both Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara walked together, towards the mysterious boy in a calm and measured pace.

Hashirama had dark tan skin, brown eyes, and long, black hair. He was wearing armor similar in style to his brother and Madara Uchiha; dark red, metal plated, similar to what samurai were prone to wearing, along with ninja sandals, as well as some type of headband on his forehead.

Madara on the other hand, had long, spiky shoulder-length hair; which was unkempt and hung loose. He also wore the standard outfit of the Uchiha clan; a high collared black shirt with the clan's symbol on his upper back and blue pants with bandages at the ends, although he had left the collar of his shirt open. On his waist, he had a bandage belt that held a sack that presumably held ninja tools, while a giant war fan was hung on his back.

Both of the legendary ninja's paused for a moment, as they looked at the boy, clearly taken aback by Naruto's appearance. Whatever they had expected, this was not it.

* * *

"Identify yourself, to which clan do you belong?" Madara bluntly ordered the boy as he gazed at him scrutinizing deeply. Apparently, he was not one for small talk.

"_I belong to no clan, I will belong to no clan_," the boy replied softly, at which many eyebrows were raised at the rather ambiguous answer.

"You have assaulted my clan, attempted to harm the village of my relatives, and you have tried to kill my people. Give me one reason, why I shouldn't slay you as you stand?" Hashirama spoke out in an authoritative voice as he gazed at the boy.

"You clearly are not as perceptive as I think you are, old man," the boy replied at which many stepped back gingerly, while Hashirama instinctively flushed. _He was just 36 damn it … that is not so old…_

Madara on the other hand, had a slight smirk upon his face as he gazed at the flushed face of his rival.

Clearly ignoring the commotion that he had caused, the boy gazed at the head of the Senju without fear.

"Notice that none of your people have died by my hands, nor have I injured anybody. The summonings were done just to gain your notice, which they apparently did. I am here for one reason only," the boy spoke out calmly, while both clan leaders gazed at him in quiet wonder. It was not every day that a twelve year old boy could back talk to them, but this one was a special case.

"And that would be?" Madara asked in an almost lazy drawl as he gazed at the boy.

"Hand over the woman named Senju Toka, and I shall leave without causing any harm, refuse, and things will not go well," he spoke in a soft tone, while Hashirama glared at the boy.

Before he could retort however, he noticed that the boy was making some hand seals, and in front of his eyes, the boy plunged his arms into the ground, and performed the summoning technique, once again.

Only this time, he had again summoned what appeared to be the three clones he had summoned earlier.

Hashirama looked at the boy guardedly, as he tried to analyze what was going on. All the four seemed identical to the last degree, it was at that time, that he noticed the boy's eyes and instantly his stance hardened. He recognized the pattern, but could not recall the information immediately.

Madara on the other hand, had not been so patient. Without waiting any longer, he launched himself into the air, and whipped out his war fan.

"_Rekka Shin'en," _the man roared out , even as he flung his fan forward, and from the kanji engraved upon it, huge gouts of flames emerged and raced towards the boy, who stood calmly.

As everybody watched, the huge gouts of flames raced towards the boy, when suddenly, one of the clones stepped forward, and held both his palms out, as they began to glow.

In front of everyone, the flames of Uchiha Madara's Tessen, which had never been stopped before, were stopped.

"_He stopped it? He actually stopped the flames?" _Hikaku exclaimed in shock, even as Tobirama who was standing next to him, spoke out quietly.

"_No, he is … actually absorbing them!" _the man exclaimed in shocked realization, while everybody watched in surprise as the flames were slowly sucked inside the boy's palms.

Madara was actually analyzing the boy's movements very carefully, and even he too noticed the boy's eyes.

"_You are no ordinary boy,"_ he muttered as he too tried to recall what he knew about those mysterious eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, all the other ninjas in the area, decided to make their presence felt, and as one, they launched themselves into the air, and began to make hand seals to unleash their techniques.

Most of the techniques were drowned out in scope as a gigantic wave, sent by Tobirama, raced alongside an equally gargantuan fireball released by Hikaku Uchiha, as they moved towards the boy.

At which, the boy in front, who had absorbed the flames earlier crouched, while his palms began to glow again, as a lightly shimmering barrier formed over all the four boys.

Once again, they were disappointed as they saw the multitude of techniques being absorbed by the barrier.

Once the techniques were absorbed, the boy once again moved back behind the other boy, who appeared to be the leader.

"Well, this sucks," Tobirama deadpanned as he gazed at the boy with unrestrained curiosity.

"Subdue him," Madara gave a terse order at which the twenty Uchiha's raced towards the leader of those identical boys.

As they rapidly neared him, the leader of the boy's pointed his left arm towards the rapidly approaching mob, as he muttered two words, "_Shinra Tensei!"_

The effect of uttering that simple phrase was extraordinary. In front of their eyes, the twenty ninjas were blown back, and each of them flew back at least a hundred yards, as they collapsed, clearly with quite some injuries. The sheer force of repulsion from the shockwave created a crater beneath the boy's feet, and even Madara and Hashirama were forced to stand their ground, by pushing their chakras to their feet.

Without warning, the two clan heads raced towards the boy, intent on subduing him themselves, and as they neared him, one of the clones moved forward and intercepted. The boy's style of hand – to – hand combat was rather unorthodox.

Every blow they attempted was instantly parried, or blocked. The combos that Madara and Hashirama used seemed almost instinctual. Being enemies for quite long, it was as if each of them knew what the other was about to attempt before he actually did it. But the boy's defense was solid. The four boys weaved in and out of the melee relentlessly, blocking and attempting blows that would have been fatal or debilitating, with almost unnatural effort. It was as if he had no blind spot. Not only was the boy successfully blocking their attempts, he was actually redirecting the energy of their blows back to them.

After another couple of minutes, the two clan heads leapt back, rapidly reanalyzing what they encountered.

_It is as if he has no blind spot, but that is impossible. Every time we move in for what appears to be a blind spot, he blocks it, even though there is no way he can notice it … it is unreal… it is as if they all can see the same … _Madara stopped at that, as he noticed the boy's eyes once again … _Is that the reason why … time to get serious then …_

The next moment, his eyes had morphed to reveal the Mangekyo Sharingan, even as he closed his right eye, and trained his left on the boy, "_Amaterasu!"_

As everybody watched, the ethereal black flames which had destroyed the dog summon earlier raced towards the boy, while the one who had earlier absorbed the Ninjutsu attacks leapt forward, with both palms glowing.

Then for the first time since achieving his Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Madara was treated to the rare sight of seeing his famed Amaterasu flames be stopped.

_He absorbed it? He actually stopped Amaterasu?_ "I am really starting to dislike this boy," Madara growled softly, when suddenly, in front of his eyes, numerous plants rushed to subdue the boy from all sides.

It was then that he noticed what had happened, the one who was known to absorb techniques, was still absorbing the last dregs of his Amaterasu, and thus rendering him incapable of stopping Hashirama's wood techniques.

_Finally, _he watched with trepidation as the vines raced towards the boys, but however as they neared him, suddenly, the leader jumped forward and used his technique, repelling the plants, no, completely shredding them in the process, and unleashed another shockwave in turn.

"I am really beginning to hate this kid," Madara growled, while Hashirama, uncharacteristically for him, replied, "Yes, I am beginning to see your point," even as the man himself looked rather irritated at being so humiliated in front of his clan by a mere twelve year old boy.

* * *

"ENOUGH!" a voice roared throughout the area, and everybody stopped to see the wizened old leader of the Uzumaki clan, walk in followed by his daughter and another woman.

"There will be no more fighting," the old man declared, as everybody paused.

"I am Senju Toka, the one you seek. Now, state your purpose for seeking me," the woman who had accompanied the Old clan head and his daughter, spoke up, as she gazed at the boy.

Naruto, for the first time looked at the woman who was supposed to be his mother. She was, he admitted softly, quite a striking woman, and she was adorned in the same fashion as Hashirama and Tobirama, although her armor was green in color, and her hair was tied in a pony tail, with one half of her bangs covering half her face.

"You are Toka Senju?" Naruto asked calmly as he gazed at the proud woman, who nodded stiffly in reply. Instantly, he made a ram seal, and dispelled all his clones.

"What is the meaning of this? Toka, do you know this boy? Who is he?" Hashirama asked in an unnaturally harsh tone as he gazed at his cousin, while everyone became silent.

Meanwhile, Naruto slowly removed his cloak, and at once, Toka paled incomprehensibly as she gazed at the boy. The boy was wearing blue colored trousers, along with a sleeveless shirt, coupled with a sleeveless armor plate. But what had shook her so horribly, were the two tattoos present on each of the boy's shoulders. A tattoo of the Senju clan symbol on his left shoulder, while the symbol of the Uchiha adorned his right shoulder.

She instantly sank to her knees, even as her eyes showed her mortification, while all the ninja in the area roared out their protests.

"_How dare you, boy?"_

"_What gives you the right to claim our clan symbols?"_

"_How dare you defile them?"_

* * *

Madara and Hashirama stiffened and glared at the boy in anger, who ignored them completely, infuriating them further.

"I believe you now recognize who I am?" Naruto coldly asked the woman, who just stared at him, with tears flowing freely through her eyes, which greedily took over his form.

"Why?" Naruto simply asked her a question with just one word; just one word, through which he was asking her as to why she had abandoned her child, while Toka Senju just seemed to wither from within, even as she realized what the boy was asking.

But, the substance of this conversation, was lost upon the observers, to whom, it appeared as if the boy was accusing the woman of some grave and heinous crime. Everybody present looked at the woman, who looked absolutely shattered even as the boy's steely gaze locked upon her crumpled form.

"_He told me that you were dead, and I believed him; I never even bothered to check, I had no reason to believe he was lying…_," the woman replied softly, not even trying to avert his gaze as she looked at him.

"So, you actually did not even bother to check whether he was lying or not," Naruto replied calmly as the implications of what had happened struck him clearly. Apparently, some time after they had abandoned him, Izuna had told her that their son was dead, and she had found no reason to distrust him, and apparently believed him to be truly dead. He could see her, measure the fluctuations of her chakra flow just by looking at her, and at that moment, he realized she was telling the truth.

* * *

"Enough of this! Toka, who is this boy?" Hashirama growled as he looked at her, while shooting suspicious glares at the boy.

"_My son … he is my son,_" the woman mumbled softly at which there was an explosion of noise.

Hashirama stopped mid – step as his jaw fell open, and he gazed at his cousin in sheer amazement, while all the Senju clansmen just tried to comprehend the magnitude of the revelation.

"Seriously … I mean seriously, seriously?" Tobirama asked as he looked to and fro between the boy and his cousin.

Ignoring the hullabaloo he had created, Naruto calmly turned to face Uchiha Madara, who had been watching the proceedings with great interest.

"Where is Uchiha Izuna?" he asked calmly, even as he gazed at the man, who looked surprised.

"My brother … passed away six years ago, why do you ask of him, boy? What purpose does that serve you?" Madara asked the boy as he looked at him with far greater interest than before.

"_He is the boy's father_," Toka whispered softly, as she gazed at the boy, while the roar of outrage that followed that statement, nearly tore the sky open.

Both Hashirama and Madara were looking shell – shocked as they gazed at the woman, who was kneeling on the ground, shedding tears uncontrollably, while the said boy stood calmly at one side, observing everything in a detached manner.

"That—eht—uh—how—huh?"

Naruto looked to where the garbled noises were coming from, only to see Tobirama standing against the wall, looking oddly green and with his finger pointing shakily at the unexpected reunion in front of him. Uzumaki Mito also didn't seem to be fairing well, her eyes were large and disbelieving, even as her face turned ashen. She alternated between clenching her jaw and having her bottom lip tremble. Uchiha Hikaku's face was too concealed to read any facial reactions, but his posture had slackened considerably and his arms were hung limply in front of him.

Sheer bedlam erupted as all the Senju and Uchiha clan members who were present, began to argue with each other regarding what needed to be done with the boy, while no one noticed a small smirk of triumph pass through the face of the Uzumaki clan head, who looked very pleased by the sudden turn of events, very pleased indeed.

After a moment, Madara steeled himself and approached Naruto as silence fell throughout the area,

"You are Izuna's son?" he asked quietly, as everybody fell silent, waiting with baited breath, to hear the boy's reply.

"Yes," Naruto replied without flinching, in a cold tone.

"And that woman is your mother?" Madara continued as he jerked his thumb towards Toka, clearly singling her out without even turning around to look at her, as he asked the next question.

"Yes," came the reply, in the same cold tone.

* * *

After a moment, Madara looked at the boy in an appraising look as he gave him the once over.

"My name … is Uchiha Madara, as you may already know. I am the leader of the Uchiha clan, and also Izuna's elder brother, which consequently makes me … your uncle; and you as part of my family. Come with me, we must discuss this in private, and I shall see what needs to be done with regards to you," Madara ordered curtly, at which Naruto shrugged inconsequentially, and put on his cloak; and after giving one last look at a disconsolate Senju Toka, he turned to follow Madara, and grabbed his hand, which the man had proffered towards him.

As they moved just a step forward, Naruto felt a hand on one of his shoulders, which tugged him back, and he turned around, only to see Hashirama Senju standing behind him, and looking at him with an inscrutable look on his face.

As Madara glared at the impertinence of the Senju head, Hashirama replied in an uncharacteristically soft tone, "_You may leave whenever you want, Madara – san, but the boy stays here, with us, with the Senju_," the man finished, even as Uchiha Madara's eyes morphed in anger to reveal his eternal Sharingan, while wooden stakes with unnaturally sharp and pointed tips burst around the future Shodai Hokage automatically, as he too glared at the Uchiha clan head in an equally heated stare.

Consequently, all the Senju raced to the aid of their head, with weapons drawn, while the Uchiha members reciprocated similarly, creating two armed factions glaring at each other, and itching for the barest excuse to slaughter each other.

* * *

As he eyed the new developments, the old head of the Uzumaki clan, Uzumaki Arashi, looked around and noticed Senju Toka who was being succored by his daughter, and his eyes moved further to see the little boy who was now literally involved in a tug of war between his son – in – law and the brash Uchiha clan head, and mumbled with a deep sigh, "_Here we go again!" _

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_All right, it is here as promised._

_Watch the greatest child custody battle in the history of the shinobi world, start in the next chapter!_

_P.S. And before you people start ranting by saying that there is no way a freaking twelve year old can fight the Shodai and Madara to a draw, remember, none of them, including Naruto fought using all their power, they were just basically testing each other, before Toka barged in. At his current level, Naruto can maybe injure them, but if those two go all out on his ass, there is no way he can win, currently that is. _

_P.P.S. I actually added this chapter twice by mistake, so if you get a alert notice for a 4th chapter, please ignore it, this is the only chapter that has been added newly._


	4. All this fighting for one Kid?

Sheer bedlam had erupted in Uzushiogakure, and if anybody had bothered to pause for a second within the ensuing madness, one could have seen the fires raging within the village, and hear the sounds of battles, as weapons clashed, and hear the sounds of numerous Jutsu being unleashed throughout the air.

However, none of this bothered Naruto, who found himself, caught in a direr predicament, namely being kidnapped by one Tobirama Senju, the future Nidaime.

As soon as Naruto had taken Madara's hand, Hashirama, in an uncharacteristic display of aggression had yanked him back, and told Madara to take a hike, literally. Madara had naturally responded, and he did so in a spectacular fashion, by punching the Shodai through a building by literally blowing a human sized hole in it.

That had been the last straw, as all the Senju and the Uchiha launched themselves at each other thereby creating a spectacular free-for-all. Caught within this battle were the Uzumaki who were desperately trying to salvage their village and were fighting a valiant but futile fight to prevent any further collateral damage to their home.

"Boy, I got to tell you Gaki, you are something else, but don't worry, uncle Tobi is gonna take good care of you," Tobirama gave him a dazzling smile, under the impression that he was impressing the boy, while Naruto had to use every bit of his willpower to not gag in revulsion. That phrase sounded so pedo and corny, one that he would have associated with Orochimaru and not the Nidaime.

Tobirama deftly avoided all the mayhem around him as he made his way towards the Senju enclave, even as he effortlessly batted away three Uchiha's who had tried to ambush him with one hand, even as he held a struggling Naruto at his side with his other arm. Despite the humiliating situation in which he found himself, Naruto could not help but be impressed at the skill of the man.

"Let me go," Naruto tried to break out of the man's grasp, while the older Senju just ignored him. Naruto cursed the fact that he could not Shinra Tensei the man's ass to the other side of the village, and escape, but this was the culmination of his plan, and he needed to, dare he say it, pretend like the boy he appeared to be rather than be the man he really was.

Suddenly, Tobirama paused as he turned around to look back, even as both Naruto and Tobirama felt a massive wave of chakra engulf the village.

"That's not good," Tobirama muttered, even as all joviality rushed out of his face, and he became serious, and for the first time, Naruto realized what he was dealing with as he looked at the man's face. Gone was the jovial young man who had been holding him, instead here was the legendary second hokage, the man who had literally made Konoha into the great power it was in the future.

As he looked ahead, Naruto realized what had made the man pause. Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were getting ready to go all out, and were unleashing their chakra in torrents. The level of chakra being emitted by those two men made even him, who was accustomed to being around people with bijuu-level chakras become nauseous.

_Man oh man! If this is what ninja were like in the clan war period, then I am glad that the later generations were weaker! Hell, even Nagato didn't have this much chakra, when he went all out against me, and Madara wasn't kidding when he said he was weaker. If this is what he was capable of normally, then I would hate to think of what he could have done in the future. I could barely scratch him when he was a cripple in the future, ain't no way I can take him on now, not until I master all paths. Riku-san was right! These guys are monsters! No wonder they could control the bijuu like that, if this is what they are capable of…_

Suddenly, his attention was diverted as his brain automatically registered a request from _Jigokudo,_ who was transmitting an urgent request for him to take over, at which he performed an instant Kawarimi with the _Jigokudo & _in doing so, he found himself at the other end of the village; facing three people, who were looking at him with unrestrained curiosity, the head of the Uzumaki Clan, his daughter and … _his mother._

* * *

Uzumaki Arashi, the venerated leader of the Uzumaki clan was fast approaching the point where even his legendary patience was about to be exhausted. He had summoned his son-in-law and also the head of the Uchiha clan after a painstaking effort, one that had taken nearly three years, and had cost the lives of many of their loyal shinobi, in order to get the two most powerful ninja in the world to come together and form an alliance, to bring an end to this senseless violence.

He had known from the beginning that it had been a long shot at best, and he had been most pleased, when at last, after much coaxing from his daughter, his son-in-law had agreed to face the young Uchiha clan head, who after much persuasion (read near mutiny) from his own clan, had reluctantly agreed to discuss … not agree, but discuss the possibility of peace, and that in itself he considered a great achievement, and had given him hope, although miniscule in nature, thatat least there was the possibility that there could finally be … _peace._

And then, it happened, in all his long life, the one thing that he had never expected to happen; in front of his very eyes, the chakra barrier that had protected his clan for generations had been torn apart like a piece of flimsy paper. For a second, for a fleeting second, even his stout heart had skipped a beat, but years of experience asserted itself, as he had prepared for immediate battle. With both Hashirama & Madara present within the village, he had no doubts that this battle would end in their favor.

Soon, after both his son-in-law and the Uchiha had rushed off to take command of the battle, he had joined his daughter, and his young niece, Toka, and made his way to the highest vantage point in the village to observe the coming conflict, and to see if his assistance would be required.

He had been shocked out of his core, when he noticed that the assailant was a single person, and a mere child at that. His eyebrows rose a bit high, when he noticed the boy perform a summoning Kinjutsu, and he had been even more impressed outright, when the boy had summoned, what appeared to be clones of himself. The boy kept on shattering his expectations again & again, as he noticed that the boy did things that defied belief.

Hoping to catch the boy on the wrong foot, The Uchiha & Senju shinobi in the flanks hurled Ninjutsu attacks and assorted projectiles at the boy. In turn, their quarry responded by summoning three more humans who had the same appearance as he did. In addition, even though, there was no way that anyone summoned unwittingly into the center of a hail of attacks in the middle of a battlefield could have had such complete situational awareness and instant reflexes to respond accordingly, that was exactly what the new arrivals did. The projectiles were somehow repelled back to their owners with a wave of a hand by one of them and the Ninjutsu attacks absorbed and vanished into thin air by the other.

Observing the action from the roof with the eye of experience, Arashi noted that the newcomers sported the same hair and weird eyes as the original. Weird eyes that he finally recognized from both historical texts that were dismissed by most of the modern world as myths and legends, and mentioned fleetingly in the ancient scrolls in their archives.

"_Rinnegan_," he whispered, aghast at the revelation.

The legendary Eyes of Samsara. The dojutsu that hadn't been seen in the world of ninja since the time of the Sage of the Six Paths and was thought to have been lost to the sands of time. The all-powerful eyes of the man who created the ninja world and performed such miraculous deeds as modern ninja only dreamed about. Suddenly, Uzumaki Arashi wasn't so sure the enemy was a reckless, overconfident fool who'd made a fatal mistake by attacking the village.

Beside him, he watched from the corner of his eyes, as his daughter and niece became lost to the frenzy of fear that was slowly permeating through the village, even as they watched the child actually match Hashirama and Madara blow to blow, and even more astonishingly force the battle to a draw.

Finally, he had decided that enough was enough, and made his way forward, even as they were joined by Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Hikaku, who quickly informed them that the assailant had come here with the intent of seeking Toka, which had surprised them all.

Nevertheless, the confrontation at the centre of the village had literally rocked even him, to his core. An illicit union between a Senju & a Uchiha, which had resulted in a child, a child who had now apparently come to claim vengeance from the looks of it, upon the clans that had abandoned him. It seemed like a situation straight out from a cheesy adventure novel, like the ones that his daughter liked to read, except that this was real, oh so real, and the potential that this situation offered was enormous in its scope.

As he looked at that child, Arashi could not help but let a ghost of a smile flicker through his face. Now, now at last, he had a chance to bring about the peace that he wished for so badly, and that little boy willing or not, was going to help him bring it about.

* * *

As Naruto watched the old clan head, he could not help but be reminded of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third hokage. Only difference being that this man was possibly more stronger and wiser than even the old hokage, which was a very distinct possibility, he conceded grudgingly.

"Come, boy, we have much to discuss about," the old man beckoned him imperiously, even as he stroked his beard, while Naruto just glared at him coolly, with a nonchalant gaze.

"I would much rather stay here, thanks," he retorted, while the old man nodded, even as Uzumaki Mito stiffened as she saw the blatant disrespect with which the boy was dealing with her father.

"You are not the one who was here earlier, are you? Your posture is far more erect, and your presence is more tempered, and your chakra is more complete," Arashi spoke quietly, at which Naruto nodded softly, tipping his hat to the old man.

The old man was perceptive all right; he had already discerned the difference between him and his _Paths_, something that even Madara and Hashirama had not managed to do yet.

"Indeed, that was but one of my _Paths_, we are one and yet we are, each of us, different, and unique," Naruto retorted, while Arashi narrowed his eyes at the unique phrase.

"Indeed, a shared collective consciousness between the summoner and the summons, I can now see why my son-in-law had such a hard time with you, you are … as you said … truly unique," the old man grudgingly admitted, even his mind raced to analyze the possibilities of such an ability.

With such an ability, he could see what his summons could see, and if his suspicions were correct, seeing that the boy's summons shared his eyes, they must have a shared field of vision, which practically eliminated the possibility of him having any blind spots. That in itself, proved that this boy had a dojutsu of superior abilities, definitely superior to the Hyuuga clan's Byakugan, and if he was right, then even the Sharingan as well. In addition, all of this, above the many different abilities that his, what did the boy call them … oh yes, _Paths, _provided him … this was getting interesting by the minute.

Suddenly, their attention was distracted by the appearance of Hikaku Uchiha and Tobirama Senju, who rushed into the area in haste, and instantly stiffened as they gazed at each other, and then at the boy.

"Uzumaki-sama, your orders?" they both turned as one towards Arashi, who was the senior most ninja present, while Naruto arched his eyebrow at that, and after seeing even the Second Hokage and that extremely powerful Uchiha defer to the old Uzumaki, his estimation of the old man went up a great deal, and filled him with pride, realizing the fact that he came from such a bad-ass clan.

"We do nothing for now," Arashi spoke stiffly as he gazed at Tobirama, who seemed rather agitated for some reason, and at the cold and calculative Uchiha.

"Tobirama," he called harshly as he looked at the younger man, "Stay back, if what I suspect is true, then neither of you has the ability to defeat this boy," he stared pointedly at the younger brother of his son-in-law, who allowed himself to be visibly shocked at that declaration, while Uchiha Hikaku stiffened, but held his peace.

Meanwhile, Mito had slowly carried away Senju Toka, who had by then, mercifully slipped into unconsciousness, as the mental strain of the day's events finally took their toll on her.

"You are far more perceptive than I give you credit for," Naruto commented as he looked at the old man, who just gazed at him, even as a myriad of emotions ranging from surprise to admiration, to even a fleeting stab of irritation passed through the old face.

"Did you come here to take revenge upon your mother?" Arashi asked stiffly, even as Tobirama and Hikaku stiffened.

"Huh," Naruto scoffed, "it takes more than giving birth to a child before a person can be considered as a parent. She may have given birth to me, but she is no mother of mine," the boy retorted even as Tobirama's face colored up, while even Hikaku and Arashi hardened their eyes.

"Do not get carried away by your emotions, child, regardless of what has transpired, she is your mother, and she deserves your respect," Arashi, ever the traditionalist, retorted coldly, while Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"I never said that I did not respect her, I just mentioned that I am indifferent to her presence. She may have given birth to me, but apart from that, she has not discharged any of her duties as a mother towards me, and as such, I am under no obligation to consider her as my mother," the boy retorted, while Arashi slowly weighed his words.

"I do admit that all of us were taken off guard by this unexpected revelation, but, even you too must consider the fact that your existence is an unknown factor, and your mother gained the information about your existence from you of all people, and I must admit that the information we have as of now is not as complete as we would have liked it to be," Arashi countered.

"Ignorance may pass for an excuse, but incompetence cannot," Naruto retorted coldly, while Arashi recoiled as if struck upon the face as he looked at the boy, with a deeply scrutinizing look.

"What do you mean by that?" Tobirama asked even as he gazed at the boy with a stony look on his face.

"She was brave enough to go against her clan, to be with a Uchiha, and so was he, to be with a Senju, but neither of them was brave enough to go against their clans when it came to me. Oh no, my father had to abandon me in some village far away, and had to tell my mother that I was dead, and she did not even bother to check whether I was dead or not. Isn't she supposed to be one of the top shinobi of the Senju clan? And yet, like a naïve child, she believed the lie that had been fed to her. And my father, not to speak ill of the dead, if he couldn't even be bothered to tell his own wife whether their child was alive or not, then clearly, he deserves even less to be addressed as my father. Her ignorance may be forgiven, but his callousness cannot, if this is how your clans treat their children, then I am glad that I was raised an orphan," Naruto shook his head lightly, while both Tobirama and Hikaku stepped up instantly, snarling in anger.

"You claim that you have no ill-will against your mother, and yet, all you have done is nothing but vent your anger against her, and your father, for abandoning you. If your purpose is not vengeance, then what is it?" Arashi asked calmly, even as he stepped forward causing Hikaku and Tobirama to pause in their steps.

Naruto paused for a second, knowing that what he was about say, would no doubt ensure that all three clans would unite to hunt him down like an animal. But it had to be done, for the sake of the future that was to come, and he would do it.

"_I came here to see whether your clans were worthy enough to have me as your member, considering that we all share the same ancestor, but I am sorry to say that you all fail_," Naruto replied, even as he shrugged his shoulders off casually.

"Rather presumptuous of you to make such a claim, boy, despite the fact that you possess a bloodline that has not been seen in two thousand years. Regardless of the fact, you do realize that the Senju & Uchiha will never let you go, once they realize what you have in your possession, do you not?" the old man asked, even as he was forced to stop Tobirama Senju & Uchiha Hikaku from murdering the child outright for that grievous insult.

"And what makes you think that they have anything or anyone remotely capable of capturing me, when you know what I have in my possession?" Naruto countered with a grin on his face, even as Arashi smirked.

"Impressive, your confidence in your skills is commendable, but let's see if you have the ability to back them up. Tobirama, Hikaku, subdue him, but make sure not to hurt him too badly, he is the son of my niece after all," the old man spoke even as he walked away, as Tobirama and Hikaku glared at the impertinent boy.

"Oh please, don't tell me that you are still pissed that I escaped from you by using one of my clones to switch with me," Naruto asked Tobirama who snarled in anger.

Tobirama began to weave hand seals rapidly, even as he unleashed his jutsu, "Genjutsu: Kokuangyou no Jutsu," the man finished, even as Naruto felt complete darkness converge upon him from all sides. He just shook his head and flared his chakra as the Genjutsu shattered like a mirror.

Tobirama staggered in shock, even as he felt those ringed eyes loom in front of him, larger than life, and he staggered to his knees, panting heavily as sweat rolled down his forehead, even as the web of genjutsu he had created, shattered into a million pieces, as the boy flared his chakra.

"Impressive technique, but a genjutsu of that level will not work on me, but however ..." Naruto muttered even as he made his way towards the man, when suddenly he felt the tip of a kunai jab into his back, "But now ... it is over. I have to admit, you are possibly the strongest shinobi of your age that I have ever seen, but now, you will submit to us, and the elder councils of both clans will decide how the transgressions of you & your mother will be dealt with," Uchiha Hikaku muttered coldly, even as he unleashed an enormous amount of killing intent, while Naruto just smirked.

"Impressive," Naruto muttered as he turned around and gazed at Hikaku, even as his left hand moved just a millimeter to the right, as at least four shuriken appeared within the gaps of his fingers. Instantly, Hikaku jumped away, and began to make hand seals, and then swore, as he noticed that a quicksand had already formed in the place that he was about to land on, and forcibly executed a Shunshin and appeared at the opposite end of the place, as he recollected himself and gazed at his opponent.

_He used that technique so fast! I couldn't even see when he formed the seals for that Doton technique. He used those shurikens in his hands as a decoy … and tried to hit my legs with an earth element technique … talk about fast …_

His thoughts were cut short when he suddenly felt the tip of a kunai now press into his back instead by another of the boy's clones, even as the one he had faced earlier, stood at a distance, watching him coolly. "Most impressive, Uchiha-san, your eye of insight is most impressive … however …," just as Naruto was about to subdue him, the man managed to escape by substituting with a water clone, leaving both the boy and his clone alone in the middle of the field.

"Another of those clone summons? But, when did he … damn it, he uses his techniques too fast," Tobirama growled as he began to weave the seals for a water technique.

"Suiton: Suishoha," he yelled, even as he created a gigantic tidal wave nearly seventy feet tall, as he guided it towards one of the boys, and as the wave raced ahead, Hikaku jumped in, and he threw a fistful of shuriken, even as he made hand seals rapidly, "shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu," he muttered, instantly multiplying the fistful of throwing stars into nearly two hundred. Not stopping, he again made some hand seals, as he unleashed another technique, "Raiton: Kaminari Shuriken," he muttered, even as the nearly two hundred throwing stars, began to glow and hum as they began to vibrate with electric charges as they began to glow with the intensity of a lightning bolt, just as they meshed in with the tidal wave created by Tobirama and energized that wave with nearly a couple thousand volts of electricity.

As both men watched, the wave supercharged with lightning raced towards the boy, who they noticed had already dispelled his clone, and was watching them calmly with the same dispassionate eyes, even as he raised his right arm, and pointed it towards them and the wave, palm pointing outwards.

Suddenly, Tobirama remembered what had happened when the boy had done the same thing when fighting with his brother and the Uchiha head. "Oh shit," he muttered, even as he looked at Hikaku who had belatedly arrived at the same realization as they prepared themselves, even as Naruto uttered the phrase, "_Shinra Tensei!"_

Just like before, the gigantic tidal wave was repelled and shredded like tissue paper, even as both men were blown back like ragdolls, as the gravity wave flung them back nearly a hundred yards away, even as the wave and the embedded shurikens within it were literally vaporized by the force of the repulsion.

"Oww… that wasn't fun," Tobirama moaned, even as he groggily got up to his feet, even as he tried to reorient his senses. "I doubt that it was meant to be, Senju…," Hikaku Uchiha muttered snidely, as he too got up slowly even as he tried to regain his bearings.

"Very, very impressive, my boy, you truly are … shinobi," Naruto whirled around as he heard the voice of the Uzumaki Clan head, come from behind him. He whirled around, and as his eyes came upon the old clan head, he swore, "Fuck!"

Standing beside the smiling head of the Uzumaki Clan, Uzumaki Arashi, were none other than Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, along with every shinobi present in the Uzumaki, Senju & Uchiha clans.

"You didn't think it was going to be this easy, did you?" Arashi asked casually, as he stroked his beard and looked at the boy with an indulgent smile.

"You used those two as bait to distract me, and then called all of these guys here," Naruto spoke out, as he realized what had happened.

"Well, yes, if those two nincompoops can't even handle a little boy like you, then maybe it is time for us to re-evaluate their skills," Arashi shrugged, even as an indignant shout of 'Hey' came from Tobirama, as generally muted snickering could be heard from the assembled multitude.

"Although, to be fair, even we all must admit that none of us has ever faced someone like you before," the old man added slightly, before he turned serious. "We have indulged you as much as we can, but now, it is time to end this charade. We have held back, out of respect for your parents, and partly for the extraordinary abilities you have shown, but if you insist on continuing this tomfoolery, I am afraid that I will have to hurt you, and I must tell you, I am beginning to reach the end of my patience," the old man ended his warning, with a hint of steel entering his voice at the end.

Naruto really became shit-scared when he saw that even Hashirama & Madara reflexively took a single step backwards as the old man issued his threat.

Seeing as he had achieved his objective of getting the attention of the three clans in a spectacular fashion, and now that the scary old man was looking at him funny, Naruto said the only thing that came to his mind, even as he looked at the bunch of hundred or so shinobi who were looking at him, brandishing their weapons in a rather menacing matter at that, "_Uh, can I have some ramen first, I am kind of hungry!"_

* * *

**Note**

Finally, it is about fucking time! Those damn anime fillers are about to end! Jesus, they made like almost thirty of them, and nearly dragged it half a year! I was almost ready to stop watching Shippuuden completely! Anyways, I saw the trailers of the episodes that are about to come, and man they are awesome. I especially can't wait to see those episodes where the Raikage is gonna go ballistic on Sasuke's ass! I gotta admit, the anime guys do the fights hell of a lot better than Kishimoto himself, it's gonna be epic. And it is about time, that we get to see Sasuke get taken down a peg or two. I swear, Kishimoto is almost turning him into a Gary-stu, with everything his way. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls the same shit again in the manga. I mean, we finally saw Naruto become a decently super-powered ninja, and I know Bakamoto is going to pull a deus-ex machina, with Sasuke having Itachi's eyes, and going uber-god mode and all.

The manga is finally becoming interesting, but I have to admit seeing Kabutomaru with that ultimate cheat code with the Edo Tensei, kinda dampened the spirits for me.

Anyway, the news that the anime was back on track, put me in such a good mode, that I had to update this story early, as a treat for every single one of my readers. I know it is a bit short, but hey, the next chapter should be out shortly. Take care.

**Next Chapter: That Rinnegan belongs to my clan, not Yours!**


	5. Revealed Somewhat

A large crowd was watching in horrified fascination at the unholy spectacle, which was taking place in front of them. Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki alike stood together, with eyes wide open, and bulging in shock as they looked at the scene in front of them.

"I don't believe it ..."

"He's downed another one; I didn't think it was possible any more …"

"What number are we at?"

"Forty-one, I think…"

"Do you think it is because of those weird powers of his …,"

Unfazed by all the muttering around him, Naruto continued on his task with renewed gusto, even as he looked at the cook in front of him, and asked again, "one more please, Jii-san," as he held his bowl forward, while the cook shook his head in exasperation.

"Kozo, you have downed forty-one bowls of ramen already, any more and you will burst, sure, Ramen is good and all, but too much of anything is always bad, think about it," the cook smiled wanly, even as he took the bowl in his hands.

Naruto snorted, "Heh … don't worry, Jii-san, I gotta eat for six, not just one, besides, it is gonna take a lot more than a few bowls of ramen to bring me down," he boasted, even as the cook began to fill another bowl.

"Indeed, now, if you were to stop this vulgar display, then perhaps we can move inside the main hall, the elders of all the three clans are waiting for you," a curt voice came behind him, and he turned around, to see Uzumaki Mito staring at him, with distrust rife in her eyes.

As all the spectators fell silent, eagerly awaiting the boy's reply, they were surprised to see that the boy calmly ignored the regal woman, and returning to eating his bowl of noodles. Mito twitched as she looked at the obvious disrespect shown by the boy, and rushed forward, and yanked him off his chair by twisting his ear and dragging him away, with a look of fury on her face.

"Oww… let me go, you crazy old bat, what the hell … you can't do this … this is child abuse … I am gonna complain, this is …," Naruto began to scream, while Rikudo laughed his butt off, inside Naruto's mindscape.

"I don't give a damn, I don't know how you have been living all these years, but as long as you are here, among your family, you will learn to live like a civilized being, even if I have to skin you alive to teach you some respect and manners, do you understand me, brat?" she growled as she looked into his eyes, while Naruto gulped and nodded fervently.

_Wow…she's scarier than Tsunade-baachan, and she's … shit, she is Tsunade's baachan, I am so … boned._

* * *

As they neared the large looming building, Naruto mentally prepared himself. This was not going to be pretty.

Inside the hall, the three clan heads, waited in a pensive mood as they awaited the arrival of the child who had literally shaken the foundations, and the very existence of their clans.

Suddenly, their reverie was broken by the sounds of a struggle, and they watched amazed, as Hashirama's wife dragged the boy in, screaming and kicking, even as he spouted off obscenities, that made even the elder Uzumaki raise his brows in surprise.

Mito dragged Naruto in & dumped him in an unceremonious dump, and gave him a scorching glare, even as the boy shivered.

"I will be seeing you…," she muttered darkly, and walked out, and even as she walked out, she punched the wall adjacent to the door in frustration. Naruto further gulped as he noticed the concrete wall literally dent as spidery cracks formed within it.

"Scary…" he shivered, even as a disguised snicker caught his attention, as he looked around and came face to face with the three men who would now decide his future, _or so they think, _he thought, as he faced them.

"Well, boy, we have not been formally introduced, and I believe we should start now. I am Arashi, the 87th head of the Uzumaki clan of Uzu no Kuni, This," he pointed to his left towards Hashirama, as he continued, "is the 98th head of the Senju clan of the Forest, Hashirama Senju, and my son-in-law, and that," he continued, as he pointed to his right towards Madara, "is the 99th head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Madara."

"And now, tell us your name," he commanded, as Naruto glared at him sullenly, "now…," he added with emphasis as the blond sighed.

"**NARUTO**, my name is Naruto," he replied, while Madara stared at him in surprise.

"You are named … for a bowl of noodles?" he asked in mild revulsion, as he looked at his …nephew, who shrugged in despair.

"Hey… we don't get to choose our names," Naruto replied casually, "if you have to blame someone, blame your brother, the one who gave me this name …," he replied crossly, even as Madara narrowed his eyes.

"Yes … yes, that is something we have to address," Arashi muttered, even as he looked at the boy. "Earlier during the battle, you told me that you know what it is that you have in your possession, when I mentioned your bloodline. Do you know what it is even called as?" the old man asked, while both Hashirama and Madara stared at the boy in surprise.

"Yes," Naruto sighed softly, as he looked at the old man, who smirked.

"You are going to make me say it out loud aren't you?" the boy accused, even as the old man gave him that same infuriating smirk.

"Hai, Hai, it is called as _Rinnegan, _all right," he spoke out, in an annoyed tone.

The reaction to that was quite comical. Arashi nodded, as if expecting it, even as Hashirama and Madara jumped to their feet, as their eyes widened in horror, and as one, they turned to face Arashi, with accusing looks in their eyes, as the old man gave a hearty laugh.

As he watched the boy's eyes, Madara could not help but recollect their battle, _no wonder he could match me in battle, his dojutsu surpasses mine, but how in the world did this child manifest the pinnacle of our race? _

_This is not good, I always thought that the eyes were a myth, and yet, it is here, in front of me, no less, _Hashirama's mind raced furiously as he analyzed the situation, and as he looked at the Uchiha head, his eyes narrowed, _I cannot allow this boy to go to the Uchiha no matter the cost, or else, the supremacy that we have maintained for the last 900 years will disappear._

"I am curious, if you have been alone for your entire life, then how on earth did you know what your bloodline is? Who taught you the arts of Ninjutsu, teaching Ninjutsu to outsiders is forbidden, and we know for a fact that neither the Senju nor the Uchiha have been in contact with you? How … did you learn the ninja arts?" Madara asked gruffly, even as all the three older men gazed at the boy, who flinched.

"You will answer us," Hashirama spoke out curtly, as he gazed at the boy, with a harsh glare.

"I am under no obligation to answer you," Naruto replied defiantly, steeling his face, even though his heart was beating wildly inside.

"You will answer us, we … are your elders, and the ones who will decide your fate, you will … answer us," Madara growled, even as his sharingan flashed, as he released in a minuscule amount of killing intent.

"And what makes you think I will abide by the decisions you make? What gives you that right?" Naruto retorted defiantly, as Hashirama's face reddened.

"You … are descended of Senju …" he began, "and of Uchiha," Madara interrupted gruffly, as he stared at Hashirama before turning his attention towards the boy who stared at him so defiantly.

"That gives us all the right we need," he added as Naruto snorted.

"Both of your clans," he began, as the two younger clan heads stared at him in surprise at the level of defiance being shown to them, even as he continued, "forfeited the right to claim me as theirs, the day when both off my parents cast me away as an outcaste. The only one who has the right to decide upon the course of my life is me, and me alone, and no one has the right to say otherwise," Naruto growled, even as Hashirama and Madara spiked their chakra in anger.

"Who do you think you are? Boy, know this … do you think …" Hashirama began to speak, only to stop mid-tirade, amazed, as the boy spiked his own chakra to actually match his levels.

"What you think and believe is irrelevant," Naruto spoke disdainfully, as he dismissed Hashirama's words with a casual wave of his hand, while the man spluttered in anger.

"Do not forget, that it was I, who came here to see whether your clans were worthy enough to have me as their member, not the other way around. Only I, possess the right to decide how I live my life, and no one, not even Kami, has the right to say otherwise. If you think that you can intimidate me, just by flaring your power, then you will be sorely disabused of that notion," Naruto concluded, while both Hashirama and Madara turned an ugly shade of puce.

Arashi narrowed his eyes, as he gazed at the boy, deep in thought. While he was glad, that there was finally someone who could actually bring both Hashirama & Madara down a peg, even he was disturbed at the level of animosity being displayed by the boy. It would appear that his parents act of abandoning him, had entrenched in the boy a deep-seated hatred of authority. He would have to do something about that.

"Then perhaps, you could tell me of what it is that you desire?" a soft voice came behind him, and everybody whirled around, only to see Senju Toka walk in, dressed in a simple kimono, divested of all shinobi attire.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. She may not have been his mother, but she was the mother of the soul, the one whose body he currently inhabited, and she had abandoned his previous host, without a thought at her husband's word.

Regardless of her situation, he found it hard to sympathize with her, but then again, compared to Kushina and the sacrifices she had made for him, maybe he had set his standards a bit too high. One set of circumstances could never apply to another, and there was no denying that during this time period, every single day was a day of battle and war, and Toka's situation was, at the time, dire indeed.

He would give her a chance, a slim one, but a chance, nonetheless.

"I do not ever expect you to call me as mother, nor do I expect you to even treat me civilly, considering the grave dishonor that I have inflicted upon you, but I would, if you are willing, try to make amends, time permitting," Toka added as she approached the boy, who was looking at her sullenly, and knelt in front of him as she gazed into his eyes, with a desperate pleading look upon her face.

She could see a myriad of emotions running through his eyes, sadness, anger, betrayal, but also ... a faint bit of hope. _Yes, there was still a chance_.

* * *

As he watched the smooth manner in which his niece placated the irate boy, Arashi could not help but smile. She may not have been a mother to him until now, but by sheer instinct, she had tamed the boy's temper in a few minutes. Blood ran true after all.

After a few seconds, Naruto gave a curt nod to the woman, and turned around to face the old man, who was once again stroking his beard and smiling at him genially. It somehow irritated him for some unknown reason, as it brought back annoying memories of the Sandaime Hokage for a fleeting second.

Arashi noticed that Hashirama was looking rather smug, while Madara was looking rather sullen. Of course, with the boy's tacit acknowledgment of Toka, it would appear to the man that he was already losing his claim over the child. This would be fun, watching the two of them bicker like children, was great entertainment after all.

"Now, boy, we must have an answer to this question, who taught you the ninja arts?" Madara reverted to the issue at hand, as he gazed at the child, even as the boy's mother settled herself quietly behind him.

Naruto looked down, as he began to claw at the ground with his foot, even as he spoke sullenly, "Well, it is more like a person actually, but he is not a person in the literal sense," he added, while everybody else stared at him with a degree of apprehension.

"Explain yourself," Madara ordered curtly, while the others began to run possible scenarios in their minds as to ascertain what the boy was implying.

"Well, he is like … a spirit, but only I can see him, and nobody else can … he says it is because of my eyes," the boy concluded, while the three clan heads carefully avoided looking at each other.

If what the boy was saying was true, then it meant that he had been trained by a Ghost, a ghost of a shinobi! It was so surreal, so impractical, that they could not dare to believe it, even for the Rinnegan, it seemed a farfetched ability, but then again, they had no actual knowledge of what those eyes were capable of! However, if it was true, then the possibilities … oh the possibilities … this needed more careful investigating.

"And who is this spirit…," here Hashirama rolled his eyes, even as he gazed at Naruto, with a disbelieving look on his face as he continued, "why would such an unknown spirit wish to train you?"

"Yes, even I find myself curious," Arashi asked as he looked at the boy, who had become more uncomfortable by the second.

"He …," Naruto paused, knowing that what he would say next would make the earlier events of the day seem paltry in comparison to what would come after, even as he steeled himself and continued, "He says … that he is doing it … because I am his true descendant or something … about me being his true heir or some other stuff like that," he retorted casually, while Arashi paled at the implications of those words. Fortunately, Madara and Hashirama had not seemed to grasp the significance of those words, unlike Toka, who it seemed had managed to understand everything the boy was trying to convey, if the look on her face was any indication.

"And … and … what does thing being refer to himself as? What … is his name?" Toka asked in a tremulous tone, as she looked at her son. _Dear Kami_, _please let it be false, otherwise the clans will eat him alive … please …_ she prayed fervently, but it was to no avail, as the boy shattered her hopes with his next words.

"I don't know … he never gives his true name … he just calls himself _**Rikudo Sennin,**_"

"**BULLSHIT," **Madara was just a split-second behind Hashirama in uttering the same exact phrase as both the men jumped to their feet, with their eyes wide open in disbelief as they glared at the boy who was soon replacing each other in their minds, as their newest bane of existence.

* * *

**NOTE:** Not much of a chapter, I agree, but it is more like a filler, so that I can make the next chapter all the more better, considering the time constraint in which this was written.


	6. Acceptance

"Well, that was a clusterfuck, if you don't mind my saying it so," Naruto groaned, even as he threw himself listlessly upon the cot within the cell in which he was placed.

"No really," Rikudo scoffed, sarcasm evident as he glared at his apprentice, "what did you think would happen? That they would welcome you with open arms, and make you the leader of all the three clans combined at once? Do you even think before you speak, boy? Announcing that you can see ghosts is one thing, but you literally pulled that shit out of the air, like a scene from one of those movies which you used to see in the future," the sage snarled, when suddenly he paused, and turned towards Naruto, glaring at him, "You didn't …," he stared at the boy with something akin to horror in his eyes, while Naruto shifted his eyes guiltily.

"Well…," he began with a whine, before seeing the sage's bloodshot eyes and gulped as he began to explain quickly, "It is a cool plan, it has to work, and it is not like they can get the reference, movies will not even be invented for another forty years! Look, we are in the past, we have no way to explain my existence, and for them to accept my status, and your eventual presence, we need to lay it on thick, as much as we can, **this has to work**," he insisted.

After a few minutes, the sage of the six paths, the once living God of the Ninja world sighed, as he slapped his forehead, "As asinine as it sounds, it just might work, now… tell me everything you have planned," he ordered as he sat in front of the boy, while Naruto grinned.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the clan elder's rooms, tempers were at breaking point. After the boy's claim that he had been trained by the ghost of the sage of the six paths himself, the two clan leaders, Madara and Hashirama had snapped. They had the boy removed from their presence and isolated, while they debated what should be done. The elder leader of the Uzumaki had not spoken at all, but had simply sent for the elders of the Senju and the Uchiha to arrive at once.

Senju Touka, who had been a silent spectator since the interrogation's abrupt and rather spectacular end, began to worry as the arguments between the clan leaders began to grow more violent. She didn't want her child's return to end even before it could materialize. Silently, making her way out, she made her way to the room where the boy had been isolated.

After terrorizing the guards posted at the door into petrified stillness, she entered the room, only to find the boy seated in a deep meditative pose.

"I am not disturbing you, am I?" she asked in a calm tone as she looked at her son, who opened his eyes and gazed at her blankly, before shaking to indicate his head that she wasn't.

"So, what is happening over there?" he asked her, while she smiled and sat down.

"Well, you have finally pushed my cousin and Madara-san to the breaking point. They have finally found someone whom they despise more than each other."

"So, what is going on? Why am I here?"

"Well, after what you said, they are literally at the breaking point. Do you have any inkling of what you have done?" she asked, arching her eyebrow.

"Ooh, I don't like the sound of where this is going," Naruto winced, as he looked at her, with a frown on his face.

"Let me explain," she sighed, "You … claimed that you were taught by the ghost of the sage of the six paths. More than that, you said that the sage claimed you as his true descendant and heir. Do you know what you have done? By claiming that, you have just about challenged the very existence of the Senju & the Uchiha clans, and tried to claim their birthright from them. The Senju and the Uchiha are descended from the two sons of the sage, and the Uzumaki are a branch of the Senju. By saying that the sage has claimed you as his heir, you have literally denounced the 900 year history of these clans, claiming that their existence has been based on a lie. How do you think they will respond to that?" she asked as she gazed at him with a wary look in her eyes.

"Damn it," the sage groaned in Naruto's mindscape, while the boy mentally wept tears of blood.

"So, I take it that they are not happy?" he asked, while his mother gazed at him, with a raised eyebrow. The question of are you really that stupid, did not need to be asked.

"Well, it is not exactly what I expected, but their reactions are well within what I anticipated," he shrugged, while Touka did a double-take.

"You …," she whispered aghast, as the boy stood up and began to pace around.

"What are they doing right now?"

"Hashirama believes you are mentally unbalanced, my uncle is of similar mind. Madara believes you have been turned insane by the power of those eyes, and that you are clearly not capable of wielding them. They have sent for the elders of the Senju & the Uchiha. You will be required to provide some proof of your claims, and if you fail …," she faltered, while Naruto smirked.

"Which brings us to the reason as to why you are here, right? Did you really think that even if I escaped by taking advantage of those two idiots outside the door whom you have placed in a genjutsu, that the clans would leave me alone?"

"You noticed?" she asked in shock, while the boy grinned and pointed towards his ringed eyes.

"Don't worry, if I wanted to, I could escape at any time, and there is not a person present here, who can stop me," he grinned, as he sat down.

"But …," Touka was flabbergasted as the boy waved all her concerns aside, and sat down.

"So, they want proof. Well, that is not too hard to provide, but I need to know what kind of people I am dealing with. Can you tell me more about them?"

"Uh … sure," she nodded, as she sat down in front of him.

"Well, first is my uncle, he is the head of the Uzumaki, he has more knowledge and experience than anybody alive today, he is the oldest shinobi in the world as of now," she concluded while at the same time implying that he should be careful when he dealt with the old man.

"Next is the chief elder of the Senju clan, Butsuma senju, he is the former head of the clan, as well as the father of Hashirama and Tobirama. He is a man with very militant views, and believes that all shinobi must be prepared to sacrifice their lives to achieve their aims. He is also very belligerent, and has a short temper."

"Okay," Naruto nodded, _man he sounds like a more premature version of Danzo, _he thought while his face betrayed no emotions.

"Then there is the chief elder of the Uchiha, Tajima Uchiha. Like his counterpart, he is the previous leader of the Uchiha, and is the father of Madara, and Izuna, and your grandfather. He is a very analytical man, willing to do anything that will bring him an advantage over his enemies."

"Good, that I can use," Naruto replied, while his mind raced with the possibilities. _So, he is just like how old man Onooki was, before Gaara got to him. That I can work with._

"Then, there will be Hashirama, Madara & Tobirama," she continued, while Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I know, the first one is bipolar, the second one is a grouch, and the last one …," he sighed, as Touka finished bluntly, "… is an asshole."

When Naruto looked at her in surprise, she shook her head, "Don't get me wrong, I love Tobirama like a brother, but that doesn't change the fact that he is an asshole. He is a pessimist, who always looks at the negative side of things, and insists on obeying the law to the letter, even at the cost of his, and preferably others lives," she scoffed, while Naruto shook his head in dismay.

_Damn, he is like the Sasuke of the Senju clan, only more fanatical._

* * *

"And you are certain of this?" an old voice rasped, even as the owner of the said voice looked at the face of the young man, kneeling in front of him.

"Hai, Tajima-sama, the boy is indeed your grandson," Hikaku Uchiha replied, as he looked at his clan elder.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have dreamed that Izuna would go against the most sacred tenet of our clan, but, there is a silver lining in every cloud I suppose," the old man muttered as he gazed at the sunset in front of him while standing in the porch of his house; while Hikaku stiffened, even from his kneeling position behind the old man.

"At least, my line survives to fight for another day," Tajima Uchiha whispered, as he turned around to face his nephew.

"And you are certain about the boy's bloodline?"

"Hai, Arashi-dono confirmed it beyond a doubt, and it has been authenticated by bloodline tests. The child possesses the Rinnegan. Of that, there is no doubt."

"Hmm…," the old man muttered as he paced around, "Finally, our end of the line has matured. The younger son's line was gifted with our ancestor's chakra, and loath was I, to see it appear fully in Hashirama. Try as we did, we never could unlock the final stage beyond the Mangekyou, in our clan's nine – hundred – year history. Even I had come to believe that the gift of the power of our ancestor's eyes which was granted to our line was a myth, and that he had chosen only his youngest; but now, finally, we have achieved it. And all it took, was for my son to break our most sacred tenet, and sleep with an enemy," he scoffed.

"Regardless of how it was achieved, uncle, I have witnessed the power of those eyes myself. Even at the age of 13, the boy has managed to withhold his own against Hashirama, Tobirama, Madara & Myself, without any extreme effort, and his bloodline is yet to mature. We cannot afford to let him stray from our clan, from his true family," Hikaku muttered, while a calculating look appeared on the older man's face.

"Show me," he commanded, even as his eyes morphed into the sharingan as he looked into his nephew's eyes, which mirrored his actions. For a few minutes, the three tomoe's within each of their eyes whirled like a pinwheel, as one pair of eyes replayed a set of memories, while another watched.

"At last," the old man whispered with a hint of pride in his voice after watching the said memories, "a worthy heir to our glorious line, this youngster will gain for us, all that was denied to us rightfully. What actions has my son taken to bring his nephew to his true family?"

"There were unforeseen complications, uncle, it is better if you witness it yourself," Hikaku muttered, even as the old man looked at his nephew keenly.

After watching a new set of memories, the old man paled considerably, before recomposing himself.

"Let us go, Hikaku, I have a son to guide, and a grandson to gain."

* * *

"Father, we cannot allow the boy to go to the Uchiha, it will herald the end of our supremacy over them, and can turn the balance of the conflict to their side," Tobirama spoke harshly, while Butsuma Senju remained pensive as he sat in his chair, while his youngest son knelt in front of him.

"What would you have me do, Tobirama? The ancient laws are very clear. A son, especially one who is the heir, will always belong to the clan of his father, not his mother. Our hands are tied, if we break this law, then it will destroy our credibility, our reputation, and our allies would abandon us, for committing such a treasonous heresy."

"Father, I would lay down my life to uphold the laws, you know that better than anyone. But this is a situation, in which even the law must take a step back; our very survival is at stake here. Hashirama has again reverted to his foolish romanticism. He believes that by handing over the boy to Madara, he can rekindle his friendship with Madara once more, and have peace, a peace that would not last for even three years, before the Uchiha come to destroy us, with this boy leading them."

"What would you have me do?"

"Hashirama is a lost case. Speak with Touka; the boy is already showing signs of attachment towards her, however slight they may be. She is the boy's mother, and the boy has never known the love of his true parents. His attachment to his mother can be the lure that brings him over to us. And through him, we can finally unite the two halves of the bloodline within the confines of the Senju itself."

"What? Explain yourself … now," Butsuma spoke harshly as he gazed at his son, who frowned and narrowed his eyes before speaking.

"He is your grand-nephew, and more to the point, he wields our ancestor's bloodline, in full. I sensed it, father, and those eyes, along with the energy of the boy … they are in perfect harmony. He will be the second coming of the sage, I know it in my soul."

"Hmm …, well it has been too long since the steps of a child were heard in this house. I will speak to Touka, and see to it, that she convinces her child. After all this … even I am eager to meet him."

"There is something else … father, something you should know," Tobirama spoke hesitantly, while his father looked at him in surprise.

"It regards the one, whom the boy claims to have received training from …" he spoke in a low voice, while his father listened in astonishment to the next part of the story.

* * *

**In the meeting hall of the Uzumaki clan, one day later,**

* * *

The silence in the hall was absolute. The three clans, who had descended from the sage of the six paths, united, under a single roof, for the first time in a millennia, it was history in the making, and the reason for it, stood in the center of the hall, as all eyes fell upon him.

Standing in the middle of the hall was Naruto Uzumaki, time-traveler, and the chosen apprentice of the founder of the ninja world. In front of him, were the leaders of the three most powerful clans in the world.

Senju Touka stood firmly behind her son, garbed in civilian attire, even as all eyes fell towards them.

She began by giving an introduction of everyone present to her son. The eyes of Tajima Uchiha never wandered from the form of his grandson, not for a second.

Butsuma Senju was looking at mother and son, with an inscrutable look on his face.

Tobirama Senju appeared to be disgruntled, glaring at the boy in a calculative gaze, while Hashirama seemed content, more like at peace with himself, and surprisingly, Uchiha Madara appeared the same.

Uzumaki Arashi, by virtue of his experience, and seniority took the lead.

"My boy, you have leveled some very serious claims, which have the potential to undermine the foundations of the existence of our clans. Should you fail to provide proof, dire penalties shall be levied upon you. Do you understand?" he asked with a gruff tone, while Naruto nodded, while absently noting that Touka's hands were trembling badly.

"What sort of proof would you like me to provide?" the boy asked, surprising everyone in the room.

"Something through which you can prove beyond doubt, that your claims are true; that will suffice," Butsuma Senju replied in a harsh tone, while Naruto nodded.

"Do you have any means through which you can witness a person's memory? Memories can never be faked, so you can be rest assured that what you will see is the truth. Otherwise, you will not believe what I say, no matter how true it is," he replied, while the elders pondered on the question.

"That is indeed an elegant solution, my boy. Otherwise, we will be plagued by claims and counter-claims of authenticity and deceit, by both factions, regardless of the true nature of the evidence provided. As the impartial adjudicator of this council, the Uzumaki clan approves of this step, unless any of you have anything to say," he spoke sternly, as he gazed at Tajima and Butsuma respectively, and after deliberating with their clan members for some time, both clan elders gave their assent.

With a pleased look on his face, Arashi turned to his daughter, "Mito-chan, get the scroll of sealing."

Mito looked perturbed, while her father shook his head, "the severity of the situation demands it, Mito, retrieve the scroll," he ordered, while his daughter nodded, and left the hall.

"Do not think that I do this lightly," he continued as he looked at the other two clan representatives, "Even though we are allied, the Senju have never been granted the right to look at our scroll of sealing, and I take a huge gamble in revealing its existence to the Uchiha. I am about to hand over one of our most prized techniques to both your clans, and I shall expect suitable compensation in the future," he concluded, even as both clan elders nodded grudgingly.

_Although if this works, the result should be compensation enough, if what I suspect is true._

After Mito had returned with the scroll, which Naruto recalled instantly as the one which had changed his life in the future, although it was thinner than he remembered. After a few minutes, Arashi had retrieved the required technique, and allowed the members of the Senju & the Uchiha to inspect it, to let them know that they were not being misled in any way.

After both clan elders and heads had confirmed that they were satisfied, Arashi nodded, and moved towards the boy, while Mito gathered the scroll. As she left the room, she glared at her husband for daring to question the honor of her father, while Hashirama cringed. _It looked like he would be sleeping on the couch for the next few weeks._

As Arashi approached Naruto, he asked the boy to sit down in the middle of the hall, even as chakra began to appear in his finger-tips, taking the form of Kanji.

"Whoa … I have got to learn how to do that," Naruto exclaimed in wonder, while Arashi smiled.

"If your claim is proved, my boy, then I shall teach you personally," he smiled indulgently, while Naruto's eyes lit up in childish glee.

"Are you serious, old man?" he asked, while Arashi nodded.

"_I never_ _go back on my word, that is my nindo,"_ the old man spoke, while Naruto's heart skipped a beat, before he bowed down deeply in gratitude.

Uzumaki Arashi had no idea that he had just earned the eternal gratitude and undying loyalty of his once would-be great-great-grandson. The repercussions of that simple act would have an incalculable impact on the future to come.

As he moved around the boy, a sealing matrix appeared on the floor.

"This seal will pull out an image of your mindscape in the outer world. All you will need to do is to think of the memory, and it will appear on the outside, where all of us will be able to view it. Deceit is impossible, do you understand?" he asked, while Naruto nodded.

"You may proceed, when you are ready," Arashi spoke while Naruto nodded.

* * *

_I am going to owe my existence in the past to the most awesome and badass movie of all Time. Rurouni Kenshin, Tsuio–Kuhen, you rock! __I will ensure that you are remade in the future._

* * *

Then, with a nod to the sage, who took over his mindscape, he settled down in deep meditation, while the prepared memory played out.

None of the members in the hall would ever know that they had been duped, not even the old master sealer Uzumaki Arashi, for they were not dealing with just a boy now; they were also dealing with the Sage of the Six Paths, who had returned to guide his descendants back from the darkness that had enveloped them and their world.

Unaware, as the memories came up, everyone leaned in eagerly, to watch.

* * *

_The scene moved to depict a small caravan moving around in a jungle. Three wagons, within which a few young women were seated, while a few men walked ahead. Next to the middle wagon, a small boy of eight years walked, smiling as he held a small candy in his hand, while one of the girls in the wagon smiled at him._

* * *

To everyone watching, it was plainly evident that it was Naruto at mainly eight years old.

Everyone marveled at the clarity of the view, while Arashi frowned. Though he had not mentioned it, the technique was quite chakra intensive, and from the literally life-like clarity being depicted, it was clear that the boy was expending a huge amount of his chakra, with nary a concern on his face, nor did it appear as if he had even felt the drain.

Frowning, he returned to the memories, deciding that he would look into it later.

* * *

_Suddenly, out of the wilderness, a group of bandits charged in, with swords brandished, yelling loudly, as the members of the caravan shrieked and tried to run. With ruthless abandon, the bandits began a methodical slaughter of the members of the caravan. Shredding limbs, ruthlessly impaling their victims with their sharp spears and their blades, while the little boy watched with fear in his eyes._

_With trembling hands, the little boy picked up a fallen sword, and gingerly made his way towards them, when one of the girls from the middle wagon, covered his mouth and dragged him back, while covering him with her body, while her companions huddled around her._

_One of the girls ran towards the bandits, pleading as she screamed, "Please spare the child," even as the bandit ruthlessly cut her down._

_The girl holding the boy whispered, "Naruto! Naruto! You are just a child. You have not yet chosen your life, as we have been able to. You cannot die now, you must live. Live a full life for the sake of those who died today," she whispered frantically, even as one of the bandits yanked her by her hair and held her upright, before driving a sword through her neck. _

_Gurgling, the girl fell down, whimpering as she clutched the blade, even as she looked at the boy, and whispered, "Live," as her eyes closed for the last time._

* * *

The silence within the hall was so severe, that one could have heard a pin drop. All the ninjas watched, with a hardened glint in their eyes, while Mito and Touka eyed the boy with a bit of sympathy in their eyes. Accustomed to death and violence as they were, even they could not help but wince as they noticed the brutal slaughter, before their shinobi training set in, and hardened their minds to the violence that played out before their eyes.

* * *

_Finally, as the boy was left alone, one of the bandits moved towards him, even as the boy whimpered in fear. As the man neared him, suddenly there was an unearthly scream from the bandit, who screamed and fell down holding his head, before he stilled and died, foaming at the mouth. _

_The boy stared numbly at the man, unaware that his eyes had mutated, and had changed, causing that death in the first place._

* * *

"Is that when he awakened his bloodline?" Tajima Uchiha muttered, while looking at the scene, even as everybody else became pensive.

"It seems that the imminent threat to his life forcibly awakened it," Madara muttered, as everybody nodded in agreement.

"Quite similar to how the Sharingan is awakened, albeit in a more extreme manner," Tobirama observed in a rather sulking tone, while the others remained silent.

* * *

_As the boy remained catatonic, one of the bandits approached the boy in rage, with his sword raised, but the boy did not react a bit to the imminent threat. Suddenly, the bandit turned around as he heard a few screams, and turned around only to watch two of his fellows being literally quartered._

_Out of the darkness, a lone figure appeared, wielding a sword. He had long, spiky hair flowing backwards, in a style similar to Madara Uchiha's. He wore what appeared to be a cloak with a high open collar and armor similar to that which was worn by Hashirama Senju, showing his necklace with six red magatama. And a Shakujo staff was strapped to his back._

_As he appeared closer, it was revealed that he had a somewhat angular face, with his lengthy black hair which was tied in a pony tail, and a phenomenally developed physique. His cloak was revealed to be a white colored ankle-length cloak, with red collars and trimmings at the bottom._

"_Who the hell are you? You bastard …," the bandit roared, even as he charged at the man in a blind rage._

"_You are about to die, so it is pointless for you to know my name," the man whispered, and before the blink of an eyelid, the bandit had been literally vaporized as a pile of ashes fell at the man's feet._

_With a roar, the rest of the bandits charged at the man, who sighed, and pointed out with his palm facing the bandits, and uttered a single phrase, "Shinra Tensei"_

_The effect was instantaneous. All of those men were literally shredded into nothing, as the very skin was shredded from their bones, while their skeletons themselves shattered into pieces, and a small hailstorm of bone pieces showered the area._

* * *

Silence, utter horrified silence reigned in the hall. Veterans they were, enough power they had to literally reshape the landscape, and yet the sheer scale of the power displayed visibly nauseated them, the greatest ninjas of the current era, as they watched whom they now knew unquestionably to be the god of their sect; the sage of the six paths, even as they watched him bringing down dozens of men, with devastating ease.

"He was not lying, he really was not," Arashi's voice trembled, as his very body shook with wondrous awe as he watched their ancestor, with shock wide open to see for everyone in his eyes.

"Never had I imagined that I would live to see this day," Tajima Uchiha whispered in awe, while Butsuma Senju could not even open his mouth at the sheer enormity of the moment.

Madara, Tobirama, Hashirama and the others could only mutely nod.

"Glad I am that the boy did not use that technique in full power as he faced us," Hikaku whispered, as he now realized that the boy had used the same technique the sage had used, during their battle in the village. Tobirama suddenly paled and swallowed nervously as he too remembered the battle in the village.

* * *

"_It was fate that led me to this path, tonight," the man spoke even as he cleaned his blade, and sheathed the sword, while approaching the boy. "Bearing a grudge against these men, will not bring your loved ones back. Revel in the fact that you survived," the man advised the child, even as he turned around and left._

_Then, the view changed, and the visitors noticed that it had become daylight. As the man, whom the viewers now knew to be the sage, returned to the same area, they noticed the surprise on his eyes and face. Then all of them noticed that the landscape itself had changed, and they all noticed that dozens of graves had been dug, and multiple crosses had been stuck, one on each grave._

"_I notice that you've made graves for both the bandits and your family," the man spoke, while the boy retorted calmly, "they were not my family, they were slave traders. I was sold to them after my guardians died." _

"_Guardians?" the man asked confused, while the boy replied, "my birth parents abandoned me and handed me over to a family in the land of rain. Even though I was not their child by blood, they cared for me as their own. They died of cholera two months ago, and then I was caught by some ronin and sold to those slavers. Anyway, after death, they are neither bandits nor slavers, they are just corpses." _

"_What are those stones for?" the man asked as he pointed out to three graves which had been dug more dutifully, with three small stones placed as grave stones upon them._

"_Hinata-san, Sakura-san, Ino-san, I only met them yesterday, but I wanted to protect them. I was the only boy in the group, yet they tried to protect me. 'Please spare the child' they said. I wanted them to have special graves, so I wanted good stones. These were the only ones I could find, but I have no flowers to put upon them."_

_The man slowly walked towards the graves, and uncorked a bottle, as he poured sake over the gravestones. "It is unfortunate to have entered nirvana without tasting good sake, so this is my tribute to them." _

"_Thank you," the boy whispered in surprise, as he looked at the man who turned around._

"_I have many names, but I am usually known nowadays as the Rikudo Sennin, or as some people call me, by the title of '**The Sage of the Six Paths**'. I am what one would call as a ninja," the man spoke with a thin smile adorning his lips as he turned around to look at the boy._

"_Ninja?" the boy asked in wonder, even as the man looked at him with seriousness in his eyes._

"_My boy, you failed to protect something very delicate. You were entrusted with those three lives. Your tiny hands will remember how heavy their bodies were," he mentioned even as he looked at the boy's palms, which were covered with grime and blood, and continued, "but you will carry the far heavier weight of their lives with you forever. You have already carried them. Now, you must acquire the strength to support yourself and protect others. Then, you will be able to live your life, and defend cherished lives."_

"_Defend cherished lives?" the boy asked in confusion, even as the man nodded and put his arm around the child's shoulders._

"_Boy, what is your name?"_

"_Naruto."_

"_Naruto, a worthy name, for a gutsy child like you. I am going to teach you, boy. Teach you my forte! The art of ninshu!" he spoke with a proud voice, as they watched the sun set together._

* * *

Suddenly, the memory shattered, and the seal died out even as the boy's eyes opened.

"What happened?" Hikaku asked, with a dazed tone, as he was still enraptured with what he had seen.

"Why did you stop?" Mito asked with a trembling voice, as she looked at the boy with wonder in her eyes.

"Rikudo-sama has permitted me to show you only this much," the boy spoke quietly, as a deathly silence prevailed in the chamber.

"The sage? You speak with him?" Tajima asked in wonder, as he looked at his grandson, who nodded.

"He is with me, as always. He is still in this chamber, though you cannot see him. He says that you are yet to earn the right to hear his voice. When the time is right, I am to show you the next set of memories, so that I may pass on his commandments, to you, who are his descendants," Naruto shrugged, while everyone became still.

Then, as one, every single member in the hall, stood up, and then knelt before him, and bowed down deeply.

"You have done us an honor that is beyond compare, one that we can never hope to match, grandson of mine," Tajima whispered, even as everybody nodded.

"Thank you, but please rise, you are making me uncomfortable," Naruto replied quietly, at which everyone stood up, while he continued, "because master has just told me to which clan I belong, and he wishes me to pass on a message to all of you," he concluded, as everyone watched at him with rapt attention.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

Damn, it took me more than two years, but I finally did it, I finally cracked the barrier that was the writer's block. In hindsight, the wait proved useful, as the latest chapters of the manga provided me a wealth of information with regards to the clan wars era, which I could finally use to revive this story from its dead slump.

Now, this chapter may be a bit shaky, but I did manage. Due credit goes to Rurouni Kenshin, whose elements I have incorporated and modified, for use in this chapters.

A couple of points. Some of you may feel that I have portrayed Tobirama harshly, but know this, I am by no means bashing that character. It is integral to the story. Bashing characters is something I simply don't do.

Yes, the sage's appearance was a mix between that of Seijuro Hiko from Rurouni Kenshin, with a snippet of Naruto canon details. And for the lack of focus, on his Rinnegan within this chapter, that was intentional. We have multiple sets of fake and real memories to view in future chapters, in which everything will be explained.

Please don't expect another update for at least two months. I am trying to revive 'Reverse the pendulum' next, but the new directions that Bleach has taken, might provide a bit of problems. I am trying to get around that as we speak.

Well, that is life.

Thank you once again, for waiting so patiently for this update. I promise, this is one story that I will not abandon, no matter what.

**SNIPPETS OF FUTURE CHAPTERS:**

" I will join the ... clan"

"Nobunaga-sama, our spies bring word that Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu of the Land of Fire, has managed to unify the ninja clans of the Iga province, and has sworn them to his service. The Uzumaki, Uchiha & Senju clans have united to form a ninja village, which is a direct threat to our existence and warrior code. We await your orders, sire!"

"I told you that I would show you the next set of memories, when Rikudo-sensei deemed you were ready. You are … now. Please bring me the Uchiha Stone tablet, the Senju tree bark parchment, and the Uzumaki scroll of sealing, so that I may unlock the sage's commandments to his descendants."


End file.
